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COMPOSITION 

GRAMMAR 


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COMPOSITION  FOR   ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

A   COMPOSITION 
GRAMMAR 


By 
CYRUS  LAURON  HOOPER 

Principal  of  the  John  McLaren  School,  Chicago 

and 

JAMES  FLEMING  HOSIC 

Head  of  the  Department-  of  English, 

Chicago  Normal  College 


Illustrations  by 
MAUD  HUNT  SQUIRE 


RAND  McNALLY  &  COMPANY 

CHICAGO  ^  NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  1916, 
By  Rand  McNally  &  Company 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The  authors  wish  to  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to 
Dr.  WilHam  Bishop  Owen,  principal  of  the  Chicago  Normal 
College ;  Miss  Lucy  Marian  Doyle,  of  the  Parker  Practice 
School,  Chicago;  Miss  Mary  E.  Tobin,  principal  of  the 
Marquette  School,  Chicago;  and  Miss  Ada  C.  Dyson,  of 
the  same  school.  For  the  examples  of  lettering  and  the 
accompanying  explanation,  thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  Ernst 
F.  Detterer,  of  the  Chicago  Normal  College. 

EDUCATION  DEPT. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Acknowledgments ii 

To  Teachers         ix 


PART  I.     THE  SENTENCE  AS   A  WHOLE: 

COMPOSITION 

Preparing  FOR  Oral  Composition i 

Some  Svbjects  Suggested 3 

Criticism  of  the  Oral  Compositions 4 

Written  Compositions 5 

Form  of  a  Manuscript 6 

Criticism  of  the  Written  Compositions 7 

The  Sentence 8 

The  Kinds  of  Thought  Expressed  in  Sentences     ...  9 

Affirmative  or  Negative  Thought 9 

Declarative  or  Interrogative  Thought 10 

Exclamatory  or  Non-exclamatory  Thought      ...  id 

Review 10 

Punctuation 11 

The  Nature  of  a  Sentence 11 

Study  of  a  Composition:  The  Lion  in  a  Circus  ....  12 

Sentence  Study       13 

Paragraphs  and  Quotation  Marks:  The  Golden  Apples     .  13 

Sentence  Study       14 

A  School  Paper     15 

The  Study  of  Lettering 15 

The  Alphabet 19 

Instructions 21 

A  Pupil's  Paragraph 24 

Criticism  of  the  Paragraph 25 

Composition  Exercise 26 

Exercise  in  Criticism 27 

Sentence  Study  and  Rewriting  a  Story:  Three  Fables  of 

Msop;  The  Cricket  on  the  Hearth      .......  29 

Discussion  of  a  Picture 32 

Writing  about  the  Picture 32 

Criticism 33 

Collecting  Pictures 34 

Exercise  in  Criticism 34 

The  Apostrophe 36 


M69906 


IV  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Some  Subjects  for  Composition 39 

Blackboard  and  Seat  Work 39 

Further  Subjects  for  Composition 41 

Why  the  Study  of  Grammar  is  Necessary 41 


PART   II.     THE   MAIN   PARTS   OF  THE 
•     SENTENCE:    COMPOSITION 

Complete  Predicates  and  Complete  Subjects       ...  42 

Predicate  Verb,  Subject  Substantive,  and  Modifiers   .  43 

There 44 

Predicates  and  Subjects  Continued 45 

Mistakes  in  the  Use  of  Verbs:  May  and  Can      ...  47 
Compound  Predicate  Verbs  and  Subject  Substantives: 

Connective  Words 48 

Modifiers 50 

Mistakes  in  the  Use  of  Modifiers 50 

Study    of  Compound  Verbs  and  Subjects:  The  Cat,    the 

Squirrel,  the  Panther,  and  the  Bear 51 

Study  of  a  Picture 51 

Writing  and  Reading  a  Story 52 

A  Grammar  Lesson 52 

Compositions  by  Pupils 53 

Exercise  in  Criticism 54 

Spelling:     Doubling  the  Final  Consonant    ....  55 

Every  Pupil's  Own  Spelling  Book 57 

Outline  for  an  Oral  Composition     . 58 

Some  Subjects  Suggested 61 

Exercise  in  Criticism 61 

Correct  Predicates  and  Subjects      .......  62 

Grammar  Exercise 64 

Speaking  from  an  Outline 65 

Exercise  in  Criticism 66 

Objects 67 

Transitive  and  Intransitive  Verbs 68 

Modifiers 69 

Compound  Objects 69 

Group  Objects       . 70 

vSoME  Difficult  Words 72 

A  Pupil's  Composition 74 

Exercise  in  Criticism 76 

Exercise  in  Grammar 77 

A  Spelling  Lesson 77 

Group  Work 78 

Some  Subjects  for  Group-work  Compositions    ...  80 

Two  Exercises  in  Criticism 81 

Exercise  in  Grammar 82 

Exercise  in  Oral  Composition 83 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS  V 

PAGE 

Some  Difficult  Words 83 

Spelling:     ei  and  ie    .      .      .           84 

A  Business  Letter 85 

Form  of  a  Business  Letter 87 

Punctuation  of  the  Letter 88 

Another  Form  for  a  Business  Letter 89 

Some  Typical  Business  Letters 90 

Writing  Business  Letters 92 

Exercise  in  Criticism 94 

The  Envelope 94 

A  Reply  to  a  Letter 95 

Exercise  in  Criticism 96 

Group  Work 97 

Indirect  Objects 97 

Exercise  in  Grammar:  The  Lion  and  the  Dolphin      ...  98 

Punctuation 99 

Exercise  in  Grammar:  The  Story  of  the  Youth  Who  Went  Forth 

to  Learn  What  Fear  Was 99 

Punctuation:     Quotation  Marks 100 

Exercise  in  Grammar 100 

Substantive  with  a  Connective  Word 102 

Exercise  in  Grammar:  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley 103 

Mistakes  in  the  Use  of  Objects  and  Substantives  with 

Connectives 105 

Composition:    A  Character  Sketch    . 108 

A  Common  Misiake  in  Grammar no 

Class  Criticism  of  a  Composition in 

Two  Compositions  BY  Pupils in 

Exercise  in  Criticism 113 

Spelling:    A  Study  of  Homonyms 116 

Subjects  for  Oral  Compositions 117 

Exercise  in  Criticism 119 

Review  in  Grammar:  Why  Beans  Have  a  Black  Seam       .      .  120 

A  Pupil's  Letter .  126 

Exercise  in  Grammar .  127 

Another  Letter    128 

Exercise  in  Grammar  and  Spelling 128 

Some  Subjects  for  Letters 129 

Business  Letters 130 

Social  Letters,  or  Letters  of  Friendship    ....  132 

A  Spelling  Lesson 134 

Exercise  in  Criticism 135 

Predicate  Words 136 

Exercise  in  Grammar:  The  Great  Stone  Face    ....  136 

Predicate  Words  Continued 137 

Linking  Verbs 138 

Exercise  in  Grammar:  Beauty  and  the  Beast    ....  139 

Criticism  and  Rewriting  of  a  Composition      ....  140 

Appositives  .      '. 141 

Nominative  of  Address 143 


VI  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Punctuation  of  Yes  and  No 144 

A  Story:  Thor  Borrows  a  Kettle 145 

Study  in  Paragraphing  and  Punctuation      ....  149 

Some  Conversations  Written  by  Pupils 150 

Exercise  in  Criticism 152 

Two  Misused  Words 153 

All  Right 154 

Reporting  a  Conversation 154 

Exercise  in  Criticism 155 

Group  Work 156 

Study  of  a  Picture 156 

Writing  and  Reading  Stories 157 

Some  Plays  Written  by  Pupils     . 158 

Criticism  of  the  Plays 167 

Instructions  for  Writing  Plays 168 

Criticism  of  the  Plays 169 

Clauses 169 

Exercise  in  Grammar:  Cinderella 171 

Two  Mistakes  in  the  Use  of  Subordinate  Clauses   .  172 

Exercise  in  Grammar:  Alice's  Adventures  in  Wonderland  175 

A  Pupil's  Composition 176 

A  Difficult  Word 177 

Group  Work 178 

Exercise  in  Grammar 179 

Phrases 179 

Exercise  in  Grammar:  The  Odyssey;  Gulliver's  Travels     .  181 

A  Pupil's  Composition 183 

Punctuation  of  Clauses  and  Phrases 184 

Study  of  Punctuation  and  the  Function  of  Connectives  186 

Group  Work 187 

Exercise  in  Criticism 187 

Subjects  for  Oral  Compositions 188 

Study  of  a  Picture 190 

Writing  and  Reading  a  Story  or  Play 191 

Exercise  in  Self-Criticism 192 

Some  Verses  Written  by  Pupils 193 

A  Study  of  the  Verses 196 

Writing  Verses 197 

Study  of  a  Picture 197 

Writing  and  Reading  a  Story  or  Play 198 

Simple  Sentences 198 

Complex  Sentences 199 

Compound  and  Complex-Compound  Sentences 202 

Punctuation 204 

Exercise  in  Grammar  and  Punctuation:  Herr  Korhes  .  207 

Equivalents  of  Sentences 208 

Pupils'  Compositions 209 

Some  Advertisements 211 

Anfwering  an  Advertisement 213 

Exercise  in  Criticism 213 


TABLE  OP   CONTENTS  vii 

PAGE 

A  Caution  about  Capital  Letters .215 

Group  Work 215 

Two  Incorrect  Phrases 216 

Slang 216 

Some  Difficult  Words 217 

Some  More  Letters  of  Friendship 218 

Rewording  Sentences     .           219 

Exercise  in  Combining  Short  Sentences:  Bre'er  Rabbit  and 

Bre'er  Lion 222 

Exercise  in  Combining  Short  Sentences:  The  Fox  and  the 

Horse 225 

Group  Work 227 

Study  in  Sentence  Structure:  Aladdin,  or  the  Wonderful 

Lamp.     The  King  of  the  Golden  River 227 

Analyzing  and  Writing  Sentences 230 

A  Study  of  Old  Compositions 231 

Written  Composition 233 

Discussion  of  a  Picture 233 

Writing  and  Reading  Stories 234 

Exercises  in  Criticism 235 

Writing  a  Composition  from  an  Outline 250 

Outlines  from  Other  People's  Compositions     .      .      .  251 

How  to  Get  a  History  Lesson 252 

The  Care  of  School  Property 253 

Writing 255 

Some  Subjects  to  Analyze 255 

Debates 257 

PART  III.  THE  PARTS  OF  SPEECH 

Function 259 

The  Conjunction 260 

Coordinating  Conjunctions 260 

Subordinating  Conjunctions 261 

The  Preposition 263 

The  Verb 265 

Tense 265 

Number •  266 

Person 266 

Illustration  of  a  Present  Tense 267 

The  Future  Tense 267 

Unreasonable  Change  of  Tense 268 

Voice 268 

Transitive  and  Intransitive  Verbs 269 

Linking  Verbs 269 

A  Study  of  Verbs 269 

The  Noun 271 

Number 272 

Case 272 


VlU  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Common  and  Proper  Nouns 273 

The  Pronoun 274 

Person 275 

Case 275 

Relative  Pronouns 277 

Interrogative  Pronouns 278 

Demonstrative  Pronouns 278 

Indefinite  Pronouns 278 

Correct  Use  of  Pronouns     . 279 

A  Study  of  Pronouns  .      .     ' 279 

The  Adjective 281 

Common  and  Proper  Adjectives 282 

Articles 282 

Relative,  Interrogative,   Demonstrative,  and   Indef- 
inite Adjectives 283 

Numerals 283 

Comparison 284 

Punctuation  of  Adjective  Clauses 284 

A  Study  of  Adjectives 286 

The  Adverb 287 

Comparison 288 

Caution 288 

A  Study  of  Adverbs 289 

Spelling 290 

The  Interjection 290 

Punctuation  of  Interjections 290 

The  Index 292 


TO   TEACHERS 

TWO  widely  different  methods  of  teaching  composition 
are  found  in  the  schools.  One,  the  strictly  technical 
method,  makes  constant  use  of  the  principles  of  rhetoric 
and  grammar,  and  ignores  the  gain  in  power  that  may 
come  to  the  pupil  from  the  frequent  and  tmfcttered 
expression  of  his  thoughts  and  experiences.  The  other 
reverses  the  process,  trusting  to  the  frequency  of  the  act 
of  composition  to  bring  the  pupil  to  a  state  of  accuracy  in 
his  use  of  English.  It  is  not  Hkcly  that  a  great  number 
of  teachers  rely  wholly  upon  either  one  of  these  methods 
of  instruction;  but  very  few  have  been  able  to  make  a 
rational  combination  of  the  two,  so  that  principles  learned 
at  any  time  may  be  used  at  once  and  thus  become  fixed 
as  habit.  More  progress  has  been  made  in  the  case  of 
rhetoric  than  in  that  of  grammar,  for  while  unity  and  the 
accompanying  qualities  of  a  theme  have  been  taught  to 
pupils  as  guiding  principles  of  composition,  a  thorough 
and  effective  knowledge  of  syntax  has  often  not  been 
deemed  necessary,  or,  perhaps,  has  been  sought  in  the 
isolated  study  of  grammar.  Something  may  indeed  be 
accomplished  by  such  study,  but  it  is  the  least  economical 
method,  and  the  one  least  likely  to  have  an  effect  on  oral 
and  written  language. 

This  means  of  teaching  the  technique  of  the  sentence 
has  had  its  trial.  While  it  may  be  true  that  the  country 
was  never  so  grammar-mad  as  it  was  once  spelling-mad, 
it  is  yet  true  that  grammar  as  an  isolated  study  had,  for  a 
long  time,  its  due  share  of  attention  in  the  curriculum, 
and  that  it  failed  to  influence  our  use  of  language  in  a 
degree  proportional  to  the  time  spent  upon  it.     A  reaction 


X  .TO    TEACHERS 

followed,  and  writers  of  grammars  began  to  maintain  that 
the  main  object  of  the  study  of  the  science  was  not  the 
improvement  of  our  English,  but  mental  discipline  and 
the  acquisition  of  one  of  the  principal  bodies  of  knowledge. 
This  change  of  opinion  seems  to  have  been  followed  not 
only  by  a  decrease  in  the  amount  of  time  devoted  to  the 
subject,  but  also  by  sporadic  and  unsystematic  attempts 
to  apply  grammar  to  the  composition  of  the  pupil.  This 
has  been  productive  of  some  good;  but  still,  in  many 
schools,  the  old  process  has  gone  on :  pupils  study  grammar 
from  a  book,  and  their  conception  of  grammar  is  a  book  — 
a  book  in  which  the  subject  is  carefully  analyzed  and  its 
principles  illustrated  by  isolated  sentences,  all  of  which 
is  easily  forgotten,  as  language  teachers  in  first-year 
high-school  classes  well  know.  Any  method  of  instruc- 
tion, therefore,  that  will  not  only  give  boys  and  girls  a 
knowledge  of  grammar  but  will  cause  them  to  think  of 
this  knowledge  as  something  constantly  applicable  to 
their  own  language  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  more 
accurate,  more  forcible,  and  more  rhythmical  expression, 
will  do  something  toward  realizing  the  old  idea  that  we 
improve  our  English  by  the  study  of  grammar. 

The  method  begun  in  A  Child's  Composition  Book  and 
continued  in  this  Composition-Grammar  is  intended  as  a 
means  of  working  out  this  idea.  In  the  first  book, 
along  with  an  abundance  of  composition  there  is  an 
untechnical  study  of  the  sentence  as  a  whole,  which  is 
followed  by  instruction  and  drill  in  some  of  the  verb 
forms  that  children  habitually  misuse,  and  by  exposition 
of  the  nature  of  subject,  predicate,  and  a  few  other 
fundamental  matters  of  grammar,  together  with  some 
practice  in  the  recognition  and  use  of  them.  The  second 
book  advances  materially  in  these  particulars,  though  at 


TO   TEACHERS  xi 

all  times  the  puzzles  of  grammar  are  avoided,  and  atten- 
tion is  given  only  to  those  parts  of  the  science  which 
are  most  serviceable  in  composition.  In  order  to  make 
the  serviceability  of  grammar  to  composition  available, 
the  authors  have  employed  several  devices — example 
sentences  accompanied  by  exposition,  the  writing  of 
illustrative  sentences,  the  study  of  quoted  passages  em- 
bodying principles  that  have  been  explained,  the  criticism 
of  pupils'  composition  for  the  purpose  of  detecting  and 
correcting  errors,  and  writing  in  groups. 

For  the  sake  of  simplicity  and  gradual  approach  this 
book  is  divided  into  three  parts.  The  first  concerns  the 
sentence  as  a  whole.  The  second  deals  with  predicates 
and  subjects,  makes  clear  the  nature  of  connectives  and 
modifiers,  explains  the  difference  between  phrases  and 
clauses,  and  treats  of  several  other  of  the  more  common 
matters  of  EngHsh  syntax.  Throughout  both  parts  there 
are  frequent  demands  for  composition,  both  oral  and 
written,  for  analysis  of  illustrative  sentences,  for  gram- 
matical study  of  sentences  as  they  stand  in  the  paragraph, 
and  for  exercise  in  criticism,  in  which  is  included  group 
work.  The  third  part  is  a  very  brief  analysis  of  the  parts 
of  speech ;  it  amounts  to  a  review  of  what  has  already  been 
studied,  and  may  be  an  introduction  to  a  more  mature 
study  of  the  subject  of  grammar. 

The  same  principles  of  grammar  are  sometimes  treated 
in  both  books,  but  on  different  levels.  This  difference  of 
level  is  of  itself  sufficient  explanation  of  the  repetitions, 
but  there  remains  another  reason — the  positive  need  of 
doing  the  same  thing  again  and  again  in  order  to  fix  it  in 
the  pupil's  inteUigence  and  to  make  it  automatic  in  his 
use  of  language. 

Grammar,  however,  constitutes  only  one  part  of  the 


xn  TO   TEACHERS 

books:  the  other  is  composition.  This,  too,  has  been 
treated  on  the  principle  that  useful  knowledge  of  technique 
is  to  be  gained  only  through  actual  practice  in  expression 
accompanied  by  criticism  and  development  of  principles. 
The  authors  have  endeavored  at  all  times  to  select  such 
subjects  as  will  interest  and  stimulate  pupils  of  the 
elementary-school  age,  and  to  give  liberty  for  individual 
choice.  Constant  effort  has  been  made  also,  in  a  simple 
and  imtechnical  way,  to  make  pupils  realize  that  they 
know  something  to  write  about;  their  minds  are  full,  if  we 
teachers  can  only  lead  them  to  organize  their  mental 
content;  for  to  organize  thought  is  not  only  to  put  in 
order  the  ideas  already  possessed,  but  it  is  also  to  get  new 
ideas  to  fill  in  the  gaps.  Therefore  such  simple  devices 
as  making  notes  before  writing,  preparing  simple  outlines, 
reproducing  stories  according  to  suggested  outlines, 
criticizing  the  themes  of  other  pupils  for  lack  of  fullness, 
and  discussing  subjects  in  such  a  way  as  to  reveal  their 
organization  are  constantfy  used,  especially  in  this  book. 
Attention  is  directed  also  to  the  frequent  use  of  composi- 
tions written  by  pupils  in  elementary  schools.  They  are 
generally  given  for  the  purpose  of  emphasizing  some 
particular  point,  but,  in  the  case  of  the  best  ones,  they  may 
serve  the  further  purpose  of  gradually  fixing  in  the  minds 
of  the  young  students  a  sort  of  standard  of  what  they  ought 
to  be  able  to  do ;  and  for  this  purpose  they  are  better  than 
examples  from  the  classics,  whose  excellence  is  unattain- 
able by  children. 

The  manner  of  conducting  the  recitation  is  always  a 
matter  of  importance.  The  authors  beHeve  that  in  the 
case  of  this  text  it  will  usually  be  best  to  allow  pupils  to 
keep  books  open  in  the  class.  It  is  a  common  psychological 
truth  that  both  yoimg  people  and  old  find  it  easier  to  grasp 


TO    TEACHERS  Xlil 

the  meaning  of  what  they  read  if  they  attack  the  page 
with  the  purpose  of  finding  out  some  particular  thing. 
If  the  teacher,  therefore,  says  to  the  class,  "Read  this 
section  and  find  out  what  we  are  to  do,"  or  "Read  this 
section  and  find  out  what  there  is  in  it  that  is  new,"  and 
if  she  then  gives  a  few  moments  for  silent  reading,  and 
afterwards  quizzes  the  children  until  she  gets  a  reply  that 
all  recognize  as  correct,  she  is  not  only  beginning  well  the 
work  of  the  day,  but  she  is  giving  her  pupils  the  habit  of 
concentration  in  reading. 

In  order  to  render  this  method  of  conducting  the 
recitation  an  easy  one,  the  authors  have  addressed  the 
book  to  the  pupils,  and  so  persistently  so  that  the  teacher 
may  seem  to  be  eliminated.  This,  however,  is  in  appear- 
ance only;  the  teacher  can  easily  see  that  she  is  indispen- 
sable as  a  guide  in  the  actual  work  of  the  class,  as  a 
judge  of  what  the  class  accomplishes,  and  even  as  an 
adjuster,  by  her  own  originality  and  scholarship,  of  the 
book  to  the  class. 

The  amount  of  revision  and  rewriting  to  be  done  is  left 
mainly  to  the  teacher.  If  she  herself  corrects  every  theme 
and  then  rereads  it  after  it  has  been  rewritten,  she  is 
tasked  almost  beyond  endurance.  But  if  she  reads  a  few 
from  each  bundle  of  compositions  in  order  to  discover  in 
what  particulars  the  class  have  failed,  and  afterwards 
gives  a  study  of  a  theme  that  has  the  typical  blunders, 
and  follows  this  by  an  exchange  of  papers,  accompanied 
by  criticism  and  practice,  she  will  both  save  herself  much 
labor  and,  in  all  probability,  get  better  results.  From 
time  to  time,  however,  all  the  compositions  should  be 
read  with  care,  and  all  that  do  not  come  up  to  a  reasonable 
standard  should  be  rewritten. 

It  is  recommended  that  there  be  no  diagramming.     If 


XIV  TO   TEACHERS 

pupils  are  taught  to  indicate  relationships  by  this  method, 
questions  of  syntax  will  thereafter  call  into  their  minds 
the  ingeniously  contrived  scheme  that  was  their  method 
of  study;  thus  something  false  is  introduced  into  the 
situation,  which  will  intrude  when  there  is  need  to  think 
of  grammar  for  the  practical  purposes  of  expression. 
Syntax  is  a  science  of  pure  relationship;  to  attempt  to 
make  it  a  science  of  space  relationship  is  a  mistake. 

Teachers  are  advised  also  to  avoid  routine  parsing. 
There  is  no  other  phase  of  the  teaching  of  grammar  in 
which  there  is  so  much  saying  the  same  thing  over  and 
over  again,  until  the  exercise  becomes  a  formula.  The 
main  thing  in  grammar  is  Junction,  and  this  should  be 
stated  in  good  ordinary  English,  without  the  monotonous 
repetition  which  the  use  of  a  set  form  entails. 

Except  in  two  cases,  the  terminology  recommended  by 
the  National  Education  Association  committee  appointed 
to  revise  the  terms  of  grammar  is  employed  in  this  book. 
First,  the  term  complex-compound  is  plainly  needed,  and 
is  therefore  used.  Second,  while  the  committee  advised 
that  such  words  as  my,  your,  his,  her,  their,  be  all  called 
adjectives  or  all  called  genitives  of  pronouns  (since  it 
would  be  confusing  to  attempt  to  divide  them  historically) , 
the  authors  of  this  book  call  these  words  genitives  of 
pronouns,  from  the  standpoint  of  form,  but  possessive 
adjectives  to  indicate  their  function.  This  makes  a 
perfect  analogy  with  the  noun,  whose  genitive  form  is  for 
the  adjective  function. 

C.  L.  H. 
J.  F.  H. 


A  COMPOSITION-GR,AMMAR: 

Part  J  :  '"•  . ;""  ;•. ;  I  y, 

THE   SENTENCE   AS   A   WHOLE: 
COMPOSITION 

PREPARING   FOR   ORAL   COMPOSITION 

I.  Some  pupils  in  an  elementary  school  were 
asked  to  write  paragraphs  beginning  with  this 
sentence:  It  is  often  difficult  to  amuse  the  baby. 
They  were  asked  (a)  to  think  the  subject  over  care- 
fully before  beginning  to  write,  (b)  to  consider  what 
other  people  might  want  to  know  about  it,  and  (c) 
to  draw  on  their  own  personal  experience  for  mate- 
rial.    The  following  were  two  of  the  paragraphs : 

Quieting  a  Baby 

It  is  often  difficult  to  amuse  the  baby.  I  know  this 
because  I  had  an  experience  with  one.  One  day  as  I 
was  sleeping  I  was  awakened  by  a  loud  cry.  Looking 
around  I  espied  the  baby  sitting  on  the  bed,  crying.  I 
took  her  in  my  arms  and  tried  to  stop  her,  but  she  kept 
on.  I  did  all  the  funny  things  I  knew  of,  but  all  in  vain. 
At  last  just  as  I  was  about  to  put  her  down  in  disgust, 
my  mother  came,  much  to  my  relief. 

Difficult  to  Amuse  the  Baby 

It  is  often  difficult  to  amuse  the  baby,  because  it  will 
cry  no  matter  what  you  give  it.  If  you  give  it  the  doll 
it  will  cry,  if  you  give  it  a  book  to  tear  up  it  will  play  with 
it  until  there  are  no  pages  left,  and  then  it  will  begin  to 


2  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

cry  again.  When  you  become  angry  with  it  for  crying 
and  not  letting  you  alone,  and  you  begin  to  say,  "Bad 
baby,  .go  to  sleep  and  don't  cry,"  it  will  become  still 
crostier  and  .not  >,et  you  alone  at  all.  When  once  it  begins 
it  will.  nevQr  .stoi9  until  it  realizes  that  crying  is  not  doing 
aL'riy 'goo'd?; '  SomG»lii'ght  when  mother  tells  you  to  put 
baby  to  sleep  and  then  you  may  go  out  and  play,  you 
willingly  do  it,  but  when  baby  won't  go  to  sleep  then  the 
trouble  begins.  You  wheel  him  up  and  down,  thinking 
that  in  a  minute  he  will  be  asleep,  but  j&fteen  minutes 
go  by  and  Mr.  Baby  is  still  wide  awake.  Then  all  of  a 
sudden  he  is  asleep,  you  think;  but  the  minute  you  stop 
wheeling  he  begins  to  cry  again.  You  never  have  any 
play  because  it's  always  baby.  And  just  think — I  have 
a  sister  seven  years  older  than  I,  and  I  was  a  baby  once 
myself. 

Answer    the    following    questions    about    these 
paragraphs : 

a.  Which  is  the  more  interesting ?     Why? 

b.  Which  of  the  writers  probably  thought  the  subject 

over  the  more  carefully  before  beginning  to  write  ? 
Which  more  carefully  considered  what  other 
people  would  like  to  know  about  the  subject? 
Which  drew  more  on  his  personal  experience? 

c.  The  writer  of  the  first  paragraph  says  that  he  did 

all  the  "funny  things"  he  knew  of  to  amuse  the 
baby.  Would  not  the  paragraph  have  been  better 
if  he  had  told  in  detail  the  "funny  things"  he  did? 
Mention  some  of  the  things  he  probably  did  do. 

d.  Which  of  the  two  paragraphs  ends  in  the  more  inter- 

esting way? 

Now  that  you  have  judged   of  the  success   or 
failure  of  these  compositions,  prepare  to  do  some 


PREPARING   FOR  ORAL   COMPOSITION  3 

similar  work  yourselves,  first  by  thinking  over 
what  you  are  to  say,  second  by  giving  orally  what 
you  have  prepared,  and  afterward  by  writing.  The 
following  hints  will  be  helpful  to  you: 

a.  Be  sure  that  you  select  a  subject  about  which  you 

have  a  great  deal  of  information. 

b.  Consider  carefully  what  questions  might  be  asked 

by  any  person  seeking  information  on  the  subject. 

c.  Consider  whether  or  not  you  have  had  any  personal 

experience  that  throws  any  light  upon  the  subject. 

d.  Make  brief  notes  of  all  that  you  have  thought  of. 

When  you  have  done  these  things,  think  all  the 
points  over  in  order  and  be  prepared  to  tell  about 
them  from  beginning  to  end.  Before  beginning, 
read  the  following  section. 

Some  Subjects  Suggested 

2.  You  know  better  than  any  one  else  what  sub- 
ject will  suit  you  best,  but  for  some  reason  or  other 
you  often  find  it  difficult  to  select  one.  Every  one 
of  you,  however,  knows  how  to  do  some  particular 
thing,  and  it  ought  to  be  easy  to  tell  how.  For  the 
first  few  lessons,  then,  explain  how  something  is  done. 
If  you  cannot  think  of  a  good  subject  at  once,  take 
one  of  the  following: 

How  to  Go  to  Hongkong 

How  to  Care  for  a  Garden 

How  to  Plow  a  Field 

How  to  Save  a  Person  from  Drowning 

How  to  Shoe  a  Horse 

How  to  Make  Butter 

How  to  Make  Fudge 


4  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

How  to  Keep  the  Kitchen  Clean  and  in  Order 

How  to  Get  to  School  on  Time 

How  to  Study  a  History  Lesson 

How  to  Find  a  Book  in  a  Library 

How  to  Care  for  the  Sick 

How  to  Prepare  for  Hallowe'en 

How  to  Go  to  Manila 

How  to  Manage  an  Incubator 

How  to  Harvest  Wheat 

How  to  Revive  a  Half-drowned  Person 

How  to  Train  a  Dog 

How  to  Cook  a  Roast 

How  to  Make  Mincemeat 

How  to  Make  a  Layer  Cake 

How  to  Lay  out  a  Tennis  Court 

How  to  Study  an  Arithmetic  Lesson 

How  to  Make  a  Baseball  Diamond 

How  to  Be  Happy  on  a  Rainy  Day 

How  to  Have  Fun  in  a  Garret 

How  to  Prepare  for  Christmas 

Each  of  you  should  select  one  of  these  or  some 
other  subject,  think  it  over  carefully,  and  tell  all 
you  know  of  it,  standing  before  the  class  as  you  do 
so.  This  work  may  go  on  for  several  days  if  you 
desire.     There  is  no  hurry;  take  your  time. 

Criticism  of  the  Oral  Compositions 
3.  After  each  of  the  speakers  has  finished,  you 
should  offer  him  your  judgment  upon  what  he  has 
said;  that  is,  you  should  tell  him  what  you  liked 
about  his  composition  and  what  you  did  not  like, 
and  why.  Each  of  you  should  try  to  profit  by  the 
criticism  made  upon  the  others;  that  is,  you  should 


WRITTEN   COMPOSITIONS  5 

try  to  do  well  in  the  same  ways  that  they  have  done 
well,  and  try  to  avoid  falling  into  their  mistakes. 
In  criticizing,  discuss  questions  like  the  following: 
a.  Did  the  speaker  tell  3^011  all  that  you  would  want  to 
know  if  you  were  going  to  do  the  thing  he  talked 
about  ? 
6.  Did  he  make  his  speech  in  good  order,  or  did  he,  at 
some  time  while  he  was  talking,  go  back  and  tell 
something  he  should  have  told  before? 

c.  Did  he  enliven  his  speech  by  telling  some  of  his 

personal  experiences  in  doing  the  thing,  or  some- 
thing he  had  read  about  doing  the  thing,  or  some- 
thing he  had  been  told  about  doing  the  thing? 

d.  Was  he  at  all  times  right  in  what  he  said,  or  are  you 

inclined  to  differ  with  him  about  some  of  the 
things  he  said? 

e.  Did  he  stand  out  boldly  before  the  room,  or  did  he 

lean  on  a  desk  or  in  some  other  way  appear  ill 
at  ease? 

f.  Did  he  speak  loud  enough  to  be  heard  all  over  the 

room? 

g.  Did  he  pronounce  his  words  distinctly,  and  not  too 

rapidly? 
h.  Did  he  run  most  of  his  sentences  together  by  saying 

and-uh,  bttt-uh.  so-uh,  then-uh,  and  why-uhf 
i.    Did  he  use  any  English  that  you  know  to  be  poor? 

WRITTEN   COMPOSITIONS 

4.  After  every  one  has  spoken,  it  is  time  to  write. 
Take  the  subject  that  you  chose  for  oral  composi- 
tion, or,  if  you  prefer,  some  other,  and  write  upon 
it  as  fully  as  time  permits.  If  you  are  at  a  loss  to 
know  how  to  spell  some  word,  go  to  the  dictionary. 


6  A    COMPOSITION -GRAMMAR 

The  full  English  period  may  be  used  for  writing. 
Before  beginning,  however,  read  the  next  section. 

Form  of  a  Manuscript 

5.  In  order  that  every  one  who  reads  your  com- 
positions may  do  so  with  ease,  you  should  observe 
the  following  rules: 

a.  Write  your  name  and  the  number  of  your  room  in 

the  upper  left-hand  corner  of  the  page.  If.  you 
write  more  than  one  page,  do  not  repeat  the  name; 
number  the  pages  in  the  upper  right-hand  corner. 

b.  A  little  lower  than  your  name — on  the  first  line  if 

you  use  ruled  paper  —  write  the  title.  Do  not 
repeat  the  title  on  successive  pages. 

c.  Draw  a  line  under  the  title. 

d.  In  order  to  make  the  title  stand  out  even  more 

distinctly,  leave  a  blank  space  between  it  and  the 
first  line  of  the  composition. 

e.  Leave  a  margin  of  about  one  inch  at  the  left  and  the 

right  of  each  page,  and  at  the  bottom. 
/.   Indent  the  first  line  of  each  paragraph. 
g.  Write  on  only  one  side  of  the  sheet. 
h.  Make  your  penmanship  as  good  as  possible. 

Somewhat  fuller  instructions  about  margins  are 
necessary.  It  is  best  to  use  unruled  paper  and  to 
become  accustomed  to  managing  margins  without 
drawing  guide  hnes.     Inspect  the  diagram  on  page  7. 

The  outer  lines  represent  the  edges  of  your  paper. 
The  inner  lines  represent  the  margins;  they  are  not 
to  be  drawn,  but  are  only  to  be  imagined.  What- 
ever size  of  paper  you  use,  you  should  have  about 
the  proportion  of  margins  indicated  by  the  lines. 


WRITTEN   COMPOSITIONS 


Criticism  of  the  Written  Compositions 

6.  Exchange  compositions,  and  read  critically  in 
order  to  help  one  another  as  much  as  possible. 
Consider  the  following  questions : 


8  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

a.  Did   the   writer  follow   the   rules  for  the   form   of 

manuscript  given  in  the  preceding  section? 

b.  Did  he  tell  all  you  would  like  to  know  about  the 

subject,  did  he  tell  it  in  good  order,  and  was  he 
right  in  all  he  said? 

c.  Do  you  discover  any  mistakes  in  the  English? 

After  you  have  studied  one  another's  compositions 
in  this  manner,  you  are  ready  for  conferences ;  you 
are  to  tell  one  another  what  is  good  in  the  compo- 
sitions, and  what  might  be  improved.  This  is  to 
be  done  in  class  time,  with  perfect  freedom  for  talk- 
ing. Be  careful,  however,  not  to  waste  time,  and 
do  not  find  fault  merely  for  the  purpose  of  finding 
fault;  your  purpose  should  be  to  help  each  one  in 
the  class  to  write  better  next  time. 

THE  SENTENCE 

7.  In  the  compositions  you  have  just  read,  there 
were  probably  some  mistakes  in  the  writing  and 
the  punctuating  of  sentences.  For  example,  young 
people,  and  sometimes  older  ones,  do  not  seem  to 
know  when  they  reach  the  end  of  a  sentence ;  and  in 
place  of  using  a  period  or  a  question  mark  or  an 
exclamation  point  at  such  a  place  and  beginning 
the  next  sentence  with  a  capital  letter,  they  place 
only  a  comma  there,  or  no  point  at  all,  and  begin 
the  next  word  with  a  small  letter.  You  have  had 
your  attention  called  to  this  matter  before.  In  order 
to  help  you  to  avoid  this  fault,  it  is  necessary  to 
give  you  a  careful  study  of  the  sentence  —  to  let 
you  know  clearly  what  a  sentence  is,  what  kinds  of 


KINDS  OF  THOUGHT  EXPRESSED  IN  SENTENCES   9 

sentences  there  are  with  respect  to  the  kind  of 
thought  they  express,  and  what  punctuation  marks 
are  used  at  the  end  of  them.  This  is  the  first  les- 
son in  grammar  that  you  are  to  get  from  this  book. 

THE  KINDS  OF  THOUGHT  EXPRESSED  IN 
SENTENCES 

8.  Read  the  following  sentences: 

1.  "This  is  the  house  that  Jack  built." 

2.  Do  you  know  that  this  is  the  house  that  Jack  built? 

3.  Go  find  the  house  that  Jack  built. 

4.  What  a  fine  house  Jack  built! 

5.  If  you  owned  the  house  that  Jack  built,  you  would 
be  very  fortunate. 

6.  Have  you  heard  that  there  was  malt  in  the  house 
that  Jack  built  ? 

7.  How  strange  it  was  that  Jack  had  malt  in  his  house ! 

8.  After  all,  this  is  not  the  house  that  Jack  built. 

9.  Yes,  it  is  the  house  that  Jack  built. 

10.  I  know  it  is  not! 

1 1 .  I  am  sure  it  is ! 

12.  Why  do  you  think  so? 

13.  I  am  sure  of  it  because  there  is  malt  in  it. 

14.  However,  I  do  not  see  a  rat  eating  the  malt. 

Affirmative  or  Negative  Thought 

The  first  of  these  sentences  affirms  a  thing  to  be 
true,  and  is  called  affirmative.  If  the  word  not 
were  in  it,  it  would  be  called  negative,  because 
it  would  then  negate,  or  deny. 

Go  over  the  sentences  one  by  one,  and  determine 
which  are  affirmative  and  which  are  negative. 


lo  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Declarative  or  Interrogative  Thought 

The  first  of  the  example  sentences  is  also  called 
declarative,  because  it  declares  a  thing  to  be  true 
instead  of  asking  whether  or  not  it  is  true.  If  it 
read,  Is  this  the  house  that  Jack  built?  the  sentence 
would  then  be  interrogative. 

Take  up  the  example  sentences  one  by  one,  and 
determine  which  are  declarative  and  which  are 
interrogative. 

Exclamatory  or  Non-exclamatory  Thought 

You  may  look  at  this  first  example  sentence  in  still 
another  way.  Sometimes,  when  you  are  talking, 
you  become  excited  about  what  you  say;  you 
exclaim  your  words;  that  is,  you  speak  with  a  sort 
of  outcry.  When  you  do  so,  you  are  said  to  use  an 
exclamatory  sentence;  when  you  do  not  do  so,  you 
are  said  to  use  a  non-exclamatory  sentence.^  Thus, 
the  sentence  we  are  discussing  is  non-exclamatory, 
while  there  are  four  other  sentences  in  the  list  that 
are  exclamatory. 

Take  up  the  example  sentences  one  by  one,  and 
determine  whether  they  are  exclamatory  'or  non- 
exclamatory. 

Review 

It  is  now  clear  that  the  sentence,  ''This  is  the 
house  that  Jack  built,''  is  an  affirmative,  declarative, 
non-exclamatory  sentence. 

Consider  again  each  one  of  the  sentences  in  the 

1  Declarative  sentences  may  be  exclamatory.     So  also  may  interrogative  sen- 
tences, as  in  "Why  in  the  world  did  you  do  that!  "     See  Report  of  the  Joint  Com- 
I         mitlee  on  Crammalical  Nomenclature,  National  Education  Association. 


THE   NATURE   OF  A    SENTENCE  ii 

list,  and  tell  three  things  about  the  kind  of  thought 

it  expresses. 

Punctuation 

9.  There  are  three  different  kinds  of  punctuation 
marks  used  at  the  ends  of  these  sentences.  What 
kind  is  at  the  end  of  the  interrogative  sentence?  of 
the  exclamatory  ?  What  kind  appears  at  the  end  of 
the  others  ?  If  you  have  not  formed  the  habit  of  us- 
ing the  right  punctuation  marks  at  the  ends  of  your 
sentences  when  you  write,  now  is  the  time  to  begin. 

You  have  doubtless  noticed  that  the  first  example 
sentence  in  section  8  is  inclosed  within  quotation 
marks.  Why?  Why  are  not  the  other  sentences 
inclosed  within  quotation  marks?  If  they  were 
short  speeches  by  characters  in  a  story,  would  they 
be  so  inclosed?  Write  some  of  them  on  the  black- 
board with  He  said,  or  He  asked,  or  He  exclaimed 
before  them,  and  be  careful  to  use  quotation  marks 
properly. 

THE  NATURE   OF  A  SENTENCE 

10.  After  all,  what  is  a  sentence?  Consider  the 
following  groups  of  words : 

1.  in  the  house 

2.  when  Washington  was  a  boy 

3.  My  brother  is  in  the  house. 

4.  if  I  were  you 

5.  across  the  river 

6.  When  Washington  was  a  boy,  he  was  very  strong 

and  manly. 

7.  seven  cents  a  pound 

8.  under  the  greenwood  tree 


12  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Some  of  these  groups  of  words  do  not  seem  to  be 
complete  in  themselves;  and  if  you  should  utter 
one  of  these  to  some  friend  of  yours  he  would 
probably  ask  you  what  you  meant.  It  is  true  that 
they  would  be  understood  if  they  were  given  in 
answer  to  questions,  but  of  themselves  they  would 
lack  something. 

On  the  other  hand,  some  of  these  groups  of  words 
are  perfectly  clear,  and  would  be  understood  even 
if  not  given  in  answer  to  questions. 

Which  groups  are  sentences,  and  which  are  not? 

STUDY  OF  A  COMPOSITION 

II.  In  this  section  there  is  a  short  composition 
which  should  be  read  aloud,  slowly,  expressively. 

"Have  you  ever  seen  a  lion  in  a  circus?  Have  you 
noticed  how  he  walks  to  and  fro  in  the  cage  as  if  he  were 
seeking  a  loosened  bar?  He  hardly  sees  the  people  who 
crowd  up  to  the  rope  that  is  stretched  before  the  line  of 
wagons.  He  seems  to  look  beyond  this  curious  throng. 
Is  it  the  jungle  he  sees,  with  its  tangle  of  tropical  vege- 
tation, its  serpents  winding  through  the  damp  weeds,  its 
monkeys  jumping  among  the  trees,  its  gazelle,  with 
wary  look,  feeding  where  the  grass  is  richest?  Stand 
still,  and  observe  him  closely.  How  deep  his  eyes  are! 
They  look  like  two  fierce  yellow  pools  in  a  tangle  of  yellow 
grass.  And  they  are  sad  eyes — very  sad!  For  they  gaze 
beyond  the  people,  and  the  cages,  and  the  tent  walls,  to 
the  old  free  life— the  night  hunt,  the  deep  draft  at  the 
river,  and  the  long  sleep  when  the  sun  is  hot.  If  you 
should  meet  him  there,  you  would  not  look  upon  him  so 
calmly.     Those  jaws  would  make  short  work  of  you. 


PARAGRAPHS  AND   QUOTATION  MARKS  13 

"Suddenly  a  monkey  in  a  cage  near  at  hand  utters  a 
loud  and  angry  screech.  A  panther  answers  from  across, 
the  tent.  An  elephant  trumpets  in  alarm.  There  is  a 
screaming  of  parrots  and  cockatoos.  Then  our  lion  opens 
his  great  mouth,  and  the  whole  captive  jungle  is  in  one 
long,  resentful,  rebelHous  uproar." 

Answer  the  following  questions : 

a.  Do  you  like  this  description  or  not?     Tell  why. 

b.  If  you  had  written  it,  what  title  would  you  have 

given  it  ? 

c.  Can  you  tell  why  it  is  divided  into  two  paragraphs? 

d.  Make  a  rule  for  dividing  a  composition  into  para- 

graphs. 

e.  Have  you  noticed  that  each  of  the  paragraphs  has 

quotation  marks  before  it,  but  that  only  the 
second  one  has  quotation  marks  after  it?  Ex- 
plain why  this  is. 

Sentence  Study 

12.  Now  study  the  composition  about  the  lion  in 
a  different  way.  Take  up  each  sentence  in  order, 
and  determine  whether  it  is 

affirmative  or  negative, 
declarative  or  interrogative, 
exclamatory  or  non-exclamatory. 

What  have  you  to  say  about  capitals  and  end 
punctuation  ? 

PARAGRAPHS  AND   QUOTATION    MARKS 

13.  In  this  section  there  appears  a  passage  about 
some  golden  apples.  You  will  probably  recognize 
it  as  from  A  Wonder  Book,  by  Nathaniel  Hawthorne, 


14  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

an  American  author.  One  of  you  should  read  it 
aloud  to  the  class,  slowly,  expressively. 

Can  you  tell  why  the  passage  is  divided  into  two 
paragraphs  ? 

In  a  quotation  of  more  than  one  paragraph, 
quotation  marks  are  used  at  the  beginning  of  each 
paragraph  but  after  the  last  one  only.     Why? 

"Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  golden  apples  that  grew  in 
the  garden  of  the  Hesperides?  Ah,  those  were  such 
apples  as  would  bring  a  great  price,  by  the  bushel,  if 
any  one  of  them  could  be  found  growing  in  the  orchards 
of  nowadays!  But  there  is  not,  I  suppose,  a  graft  of 
that  wonderful  fruit  on  a  single  tree  in  the  wide  world. 
Not  so  much  as  a  seed  of  those  apples  exists  any  longer. 

"And  even  in  the  old,  old,  half -forgotten  times,  before 
the  garden  of  the  Hesperides  was  overrun  with  weeds,  a 
great  many  people  doubted  whether  there  could  be  real 
trees  that  bore  apples  of  solid  gold  upon  their  branches. 
All  had  heard  of  them,  but  nobody  remembered  to  have 
seen  any.  Children,  nevertheless,  used  to  listen,  open- 
mouthed,  to  stories  of  the  golden  apple  tree,  and  resolved 
to  discover  it,  when  they  should  be  big  enough.  Adven- 
turous young  men,  who  desired  to  do  a  braver  thing  than 
any  of  their  fellows,  set  out  in  quest  of  this  fruit.  Many 
of  them  returned  no  more;  none  of  them  brought  back 
the  apples.  No  wonder  that  they  found  it  impossible 
to  gather  them!  It  is  said  that  there  was  a  dragon 
beneath  the  tree,  with  a  hundred  heads,  fifty  of  which 
were  always  on  the  watch,  while  the  other  fifty  slept." 

Sentence  Study 

14.  Study  this  passage  as  you  did  the  one  in 
section  1 1 ;  that  is,  tell  whether  each  sentence  is 


THE  STUDY   OF  LETTERING  1$ 

affirmative  or  negative,  declarative  or  interrogative 
exclamatory  or  non-exclamatory. 

Be  sure  to  observe  the  end  punctuation. 

A  SCHOOL  PAPER 

15.  In  some  schools  the  pupils  have  a  school 
paper.  They  select  editors — one  set  for  each 
month — who  read  a  great  many  of  the  compositions 
written  by  their  schoolmates,  choose  what  they 
consider  best,  correct  it,  have  it  neatly  copied,  bind 
it  together  in  a  cover  made  by  some  pupil  who  has 
skill  in  designing  and  lettering,  and  on  an  appointed 
day  read  it  before  the  class.  It  may  contain  essays, 
stories,  poems,  jokes,  and  editorials.  After  a  num- 
ber of  the  paper  has  been  read,  it  is  given  to  the 
teacher  to  be  preserved  in  her  desk.  Of  course  it  is 
clear  that  the  last  number  in  any  given  year  should 
be  much  better  written  than  the  first. 

You  will  find  it  a  very  interesting  thing  to  have 
such  a  paper  yourselves.  It  will  enable  you  to  pre- 
serve the  best  things  written  in  your  room,  and 
will  always  be  a  pleasure  to  you. 

THE  STUDY  OF  LETTERING 

16.  It  is  likely  that  some  of  you  take  pleasure  in 
lettering  with  a  pen  or  a  pencil.  If  so,  you  probably 
realize  that  the  letters  you  make  are  not  so  pleasing 
to  the  eye  as  those  done  with  type.  There  was  a 
time  when  there  were  many  men,  called  scribes,  who 
were  especially  skillful  in  the  making  of  letters; 
in  fact,   before  the  invention  of  printing  all  the 


THE  JOHN  M9LAREN 
SCHOOL  RECORDEP^ 

Q  Chicago  ed 

V)Lume  I      SeptEmber  j  igi^    Number  1 
CONTENTS 

Story :  A  RinisKment  I  Didn't  Deserve,  JoKn  Ashton 
R)em="rVie  Man  in  the  Moon,  Mary  Wood 

Story :  Herolsn\  cf  a  Doq,  Thomas  Dodpe- 

EssayTKe  InteLLi^nce  of  Animals,  Helen  Moore 
R>em»  Says  the  Gup  to  the  Saucer,  Jane  Andrews 
Editotials  The  Editors^ 

^)0^y  We  Have  A  School  fepen 
HelplnQ  toKeepthe  Building  Clean. 
SchooLroom  Jokes  and  Happenings, 

Variious  Contrlbuctors 
□   EdilorsiHeniy  Lyon  and  MabeLGrtwriaKt    □ 


THE   STUDY   OF  LETTERING  i? 

books  people  had  were  slowly  written  with  a  pen, 
and  many  of  these  are  preserved  to  this  day  as 
examples  of  the  beautiful  art  of  hand-lettering. 
If  you  could  do  something  of  this  sort  yourselves, 
what  uses  could  you  put  it  to?  Some  answers  to 
this  question  are  given  below. 

a.  Lettering  Christmas  cards.     Cards  are  easily  obtained ; 

and  as  for  thoughts  to  letter,  you  could  either 
draw  on  your  own  ideas  about  Christmas,  or  get 
quotations  from  such  books  as  you  may  have 
at  home  or  in  the  school  library. 

b.  Lettering  cards  to  accompany  Christmas  gifts.     On 

these  should  be  lettered  the  names  of  the  persons 
to  whom  the  gifts  are  made,  your  own  names, 
and  any  message  that  you  may  choose  to  add. 

c.  Lettering  New  Year's  cards.     It  is  an  old  and  happy 

custom  to  wish  our  friends  all  the  happiness  and 
prosperity  possible  at  the  beginning  of  the  new 
year. 

d.  Lettering  valentines.     But  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  you 

will  not  send  the  "  comic  "  kind.  Such  anonymous 
messages,  that  is,  messages  without  names  signed 
to  them,  are  rather  cowardly.  Besides,  the 
beautiful  letters  that  are  given  farther  on  in  this 
book  are  too  good  to  be  used  for  unworthy  pur- 
poses. 

e.  Lettering  your  names  in  your  hooks.     When  you  have 

once  lettered  your  names,  and  perhaps  your 
addresses,  in  the  books,  do  not  disfigure  them  with 
scribbling;  keep  them  clean  and  beautiful. 

f.  Lettering  the  titles  beneath  your  drawings.     Also  your 

names. 

g.  Lettering  the  program  on  the  school  blackboard.     You 


"■AMERFY- 


PHRISTMAS 
iTOYOU^: 


ituiiiiiiiumiimiiim 
iiminiiniiiiiimmiH 
llllllllHMIillMIHillD 

annmiiD 


A  MERRYJJ 
CHRISTMAS 
TO  YOU 

Planiir6ttKe 
size  of  the-^ 
card-  Then 
plan  the  mar- 
'olnsThe — » 
space  left:  in 
the  center  of 
thecatxllsthe 
Utter-block- 
Into  this  the 
letters  must 
be  pauckedl  so 
astofilliJr 
entirely- tf 
thijsisnotr' 
posslbliithe 
shape  of  the 
block  maybe 
changed  ter^ 
make  botK 
sides  c&  iir 
atike-Here 
are  some-^ 
other  plans 
ft>r  cards  •:• 


PLANNING  A  CHRISTMAS  CARD 


THE  STUDY   OF  LETTERING  19 

will  have  to  use  crayon  for  this,  and  you  must 
try  to  make  all  the  strokes  of  a  letter  of  the 
same  width.  The  best  workman  in  the  room 
should  be  selected  to  do  this. 

h.  Lettering  school  annoimcements.  These  should  be 
made  on  the  blackboard,  or  perhaps  on  sheets 
of  paper  to  be  hung  somewhere  in  the  room. 

i.  Lettering  cover-sheets  }or  your  compositions.  You 
should  take  a  piece  of  manila  paper  a  little  more 
than  twice  the  size  of  the  paper  you  use  for  com- 
positions, fold  it  once,  so  that  it  will  contain  the 
composition  sheets  and  protect  their  edges,  and 
on  the  outside  letter  your  names  and  the  list  of 
compositions  within.  The  top  line  of  one  would 
be,  perhaps,  "John  Ashton's  Compositions,"  or 
perhaps  "Mary  Wood's  Works,"  or  perhaps 
"The  Writings  of  Thomas  Dodge,"  or  perhaps 
"Helen  Moore:  Her  Compositions."  Under  such 
a  title  should  appear,  in  smaller  letters,  the  names 
of  the  compositions  inside. 

/.  Lettering  the  cover  for  your  school  paper.  You  will 
be  able  to  see  what  such  a  cover  would  look  like 
by  examining  the  cut  on  page  16. 

The  Alphabet 

17.  One  of  the  cuts  that  accompany  this  explana- 
tion shows  all  the  characters  that  you  are  to  use  — 
capital  letters,  small  letters,  numerals,  and  punctua- 
tion marks.  The  capital  letters  are  grouped  accord- 
ing to  their  width.  Some  letters,  like  the  T  and 
those  before  it,  are  wide;  others  are  narrow,  like 
the  B  and  those  that  follow  it.  You  should  try 
to  make  them  just  like  those  given  as  models.     In 


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abcdefgKijk 
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THE   STUDY   OF  LETTERING  21 

the  small-letter  alphabet  you  will  see  that  the  t  is 
of  an  unusual  size.  It  is  just  a  little  taller  than  the 
o  or  the  m,  and  shorter  than  the  /  or  the  d. 

The  letters  in  this  alphabet  are  like  those  which 
the  ancient  Romans  placed  on  their  buildings  and 
arches.  Those  old  letters  have  always  been  thought 
to  be  the  easiest  to  read  and  the  most  beautiful 
in  appearance  of  any  letters  that  have  ever  been 
made.  If  your  letters  are  to  be  readable  and  beau- 
tiful, you  must  be  very  careful  to  make  each  letter 
the  proper  width  for  its  height,  and  each  part  the 
proper  size  for  the  whole  letter. 

Instructions 

1 8.  Here  are  some  instructions  that  you  should 
follow  carefully : 

1.  Make  a  stylus  from  a  piece  of  soft  wood.  This 
piece  of  wood  should  be  about  five  inches  long,  one 
half  an  inch  wide,  and  about  one  quarter  of  an  inch 
thick.  Whittle  the  end  to  the  shape  of  the  one  in 
the  drawing.  Smooth  it  with  a  piece  of  very  fine 
sandpaper.  Be  sure  that  it  has  a  fiat  circular 
surface  like  the  unsharpened  end  of  a  lead  pencil, 
or  smaller,  so  that  when  you  dip  it  into  the  ink 
and  press  it  down  on  the  paper  it  will  make  a  round 
dot.  When  you  make  the  strokes  of  the  letter 
with  it  you  must  hold  the  stick  vertical  to  the  paper. 
The  end  may  be  made  as  small  as  you  wish. 

2.  Before  beginning  to  letter,  rule  straight  lines 
into  the  paper  with  the  back  of  a  knife  blade  or 
some  other  dull  edge.     These  lines  should  be  very 


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of  soft  wood  wKlttiedL  down  at.  one- 
end  TKlS  is  made  smooth  and  rou.nd 
with  fine  sandpaper  untiL  it  is  \jl<& — » 
theunsharpened  end  of  a  lead- pencil 
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and  held  in  a  vertical  position  The 
Unes  drawn  with  tJ^ts  stylus  in  an^ 
directijon  will  be  of  the  same  widtki 


HOW  TO  KAAKE  A  LETTERING  STYIUS- 


THE   STUDY   OF  LETTERING  23 

faint,  and  there  should  be  two  of  them  for  every 
row  of  letters — one  for  the  bottom  line  and  one  for 
the  top  line  when  you  are  writing  a  line  that  is  all 
capitals.  When  you  are  lettering  a  line  that  is  part 
capitals  and  part  small  letters,  the  small  letters  rest 
on  the  lower  line  of  the  ruling  for  capitals,  but  there 
is  no  line  for  the  tops  of  the  small  letters  (such 
as  n,  m,  c,  x).  The  small  6,  h,  I,  and  the  other 
letters  that  have  ascenders,  run  to  the  top  line; 
that  is,  they  are  just  as  tall  as  the  capitals.  The 
small  p,  q,  r,  and  the  other  letters  that  have  de- 
scenders, run  below  the  line  a  space  the  height  of  the 
small  0,  but  there  should  not  be  any  line  to  indicate 
this  distance. 

3.  If  you  can  get  the  India  drawing  ink  (not  the 
waterproof  kind),  you  will  find  it  much  better  than 
common  ink. 

4.  You  should  practice  a  great  deal  before  attempt- 
ing to  letter  anything  that  you  are  going  to  keep  or 
exhibit.  Be  sure  that  your  letters  are  packed 
tightly  together  into  words,  and  that  they  are  evenly 
spaced  in  the  words.  When  you  are  writing  capital 
letters,  the  space  between  words  is  about  the  width 
of  the  letter  0;  and  when  you  are  writing  small 
letters,  the  space  between  words  is  about  the  width 
of  the  letter  0. 

5.  When  you  plan  a  piece  of  lettering  you  should 
arrange  the  words  together  in  a  rectangle  or  another 
mass  of  a  very  simple  shape,  so  that  it  will  be  easy  to 
read  them.  This  mass  of  lettering  should  be  sur- 
rounded by  a  margin  on  all  sides.     The  lower  margin 


24  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

may  be  a  little  wider  than  the  upper  and  side  mar- 
gins. The  cut  on  page  i8  will  show  you  how  a 
Christmas  card  may  be  planned. 

Do  not  spoil  the  appearance  of  a  letter  by  trying 
to  correct  it  or  to  "touch  it  up"  after  it  has  once 
been  made. 

In  the  letters  that  are  given  as  models  all  of 
the  lines  are  of  the  same  width.  This  makes  them 
different  from  our  printed  type  letters  which  have 
thick  and  thin  lines,  and  also  from  the  letters  that 
were  used  in  the  written  books  before  the  invention 
of  printing.  Perhaps  some  day  you  will  be  able  to 
find  in  the  school  library  a  book  called  Writing  and 
Illuminating  and  Lettering,  by  Edward  Johnston. 
In  it  you  will  see  pictures  of  the  pens  with  broad, 
flat  ends  instead  of  points,  which  were  used  by  the 
old  scribes,  and  which  gave  the  thick  and  thin 
strokes  to  the  letters.  This  book  will  tell  you  how 
to  make  and  to  use  these  pens,  and  many  other 
things  as  well  about  fine  lettering.  In  it  there 
are  also  some  reproductions  of  photographs  taken 
from  the  old  hand-written  books. 

A  PUPIL'S  PARAGRAPH 

19.  The  paragraph  that  appears  in  this  section 
was  written  by  a  pupil  in  an  elementary  school, 
and  it  is  printed  as  it  was  written  except  for  the 
spelling,  which  has  been  corrected.  Read  it  aloud, 
making  full  pauses  only  where  periods  appear,  and 
you  will  see  that  the  writer  ended  sentences  where 
he  should  not  have  ended  them,  and  that  at  one 


A    PUPIL'S  PARAGRAPH  25 

place  he  forgot  to  finish  a  sentence.  After  the  oral 
reading  rewrite  the  paragraph,  being  careful  (a)  to 
use  periods  only  where  sentences  end,  (b)  to  use 
capitals  only  where  sentences  begin,  except  in  the 
case  of  the  word  /,  (c)  to  finish  the  unfinished 
sentence,  and  (d)  to  correct  any  other  mistakes  you 
can  find.  The  rewritten  paragraphs  should  be  com- 
pared and  corrected  in  class. 

Do  not  make  any  corrections  in  the  book,  either  here 
or  elsewhere. 

"One  day  when  I  was  riding  my  bicycle.  I  had  on  a 
pair  of  long  trousers.  I  was  going  very  fast  when  one 
of  the  legs  of  the  trousers  got  caught  in  the  gear,  the  thing 
which  the  chain  is  on.  The  leg  of  my  trousers  caught 
between  the  chain  and  the  gear.  The  chain  goes  around 
the  gear  and  is  attached  to  a  small  round  wheel  in  the 
back  wheel  of  a  bicycle.  So  with  the  aid  of  pedals.  You 
can  make  the  back  wheel  turn  around.  I  kept  a  going 
but  when  I  went  to  cross  the  road  I  saw  an  old  woman 
coming  the  opposite  way.  And  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  coaster  a  thing  which  stops  the  back  wheel  from  going 
round.  This  little  piece  of  iron  cost  five  dollars.  It  is 
a  handy  thing  to  have." 

Criticism  of  the  Paragraph 

20.  If  this  story  had  been  more  correctly  written, 
do  you  think  it  would  be  good  enough  for  your 
school  paper?  Has  it  enough  in  it  to  interest  the 
whole  class  for  a  few  minutes?  Are  you  satisfied 
with  it  as  an  account  of  an  incident?  Answer  the 
three  questions  that  follow: 

a.  What  more  might  the  writer  have  told  about  what 


26  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

he  did  and  what  he  thought,  and  about  what  the 
old  woman  did  and  how  she  looked  ? 

b.  The  writer  interrupts  his  narration  with  an  expla- 

nation. Do  3^ou  like  the  interruption  ?  How  would 
you  ha^^e  arranged  the  composition  if  you  had 
written  it? 

c.  The  writer   tells   the    cost   of    the    coaster   brake. 

Do  you  think  this  was  necessary?  How  would 
you  have  handled  this  matter  if  you  had  written 
the  composition? 

COMPOSITION  EXERCISE 

21.  Write  a  story  of  some  adventure  or  experience 
that  you  have  had,  and  try  to  write  a  better  story 
than  the  one  quoted  in  section  19.  Choose  any 
experience  that  you  remember  fully;  perhaps  you 
will  choose  a  theme  somewhat  like  one  of  the 
following : 

How  I  Took  Care  of  the  House  and  Stable  when 

Father  was  Away 
How  I  Kept  House  when  Mother  was  Away 
My  First  Day  in  a  New  Town 
My  First  Visit  to  the  City 
My  First  Baking  Day 
The  Story  of  a  Ball  Game 
My  Troublesome  Brother 
My  Experience  in  Husking  Corn 
Taking  Care  of  the  Harvesters 
City  Boys  in  the  Country 
Country  Boys  in  the  City 
A  New  Boy  at  School 
A  New  Girl  at  School 
One  Rainy  Day  on  the  Farm 


COMPOSITION-EXERCISE  27 

The  First  Fish  I  Ever  Caught 
Making  Clothes  for  Dolls 
The  Trials  of  Moving  Day 
A  Quarrel  and  a  Making-up 
How  I  Acted  at  the  Party 
Fun  on  Snowy  Days 

After  you  have  made  your  choice  of  a  subject 
for  composition,  think  it  over  carefully,  making 
notes  of  all  that  comes  to  mind,  then  arrange  the 
notes  so  that  the  ideas  will  be  in  good  order.  Now 
write  your  composition.  After  you  have  written, 
the  next  day  perhaps,  read  the  work  over  with 
close  attention  to  spelling,  grammar,  and  punctua- 
tion. Above  all,  see  to  it  that  you  have  said  just 
what  you  intended  to  say.  When  you  have  made 
all  necessary  corrections,  copy  the  whole  composi- 
tion with  care. 

By  correcting  and  rewriting  compositions  you 
will  make  it  possible  for  other  people  to  read  them 
with  ease.  As  this  is  very  desirable,  you  should 
make  second  drafts  of  many  of  your  themes. 
Form  the  habit  of  doing  your  work  in  the  very  best 
manner  possible. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

22.  After  your  compositions  have  been  written — 
either  in  class  or  at  home — you  should  give  one 
another  the  benefit  of  your  criticism;  that  is,  you 
should  exchange  papers  and  tell  one  another  what 
is  good  and  what  is  bad  about  the  work.  The 
following  suggestions  will  be  helpful: 


28  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

a.  Is  the  manuscript  neat  and  correct? 

b.  Has  the  writer  told  you  all  you  would  like  to  know 

about  his  subject? 

c.  Has  he  told  his  story  in  good  order;  that  is,  has  he 

put  each  event  and  each  explanation  in  its  proper 
place  ? 

d.  Have  you  any  fault  to  find  with  the  paragraph- 

ing? For  it  is  plain  that  some  compositions  are 
correctly  written  in  one  paragraph,  but  that 
others  have  several  steps  or  divisions,  each  one  of 
which  should  be  a  paragraph  by  itself. 

e.  Determine  whether  or  not  the  writer  knows  what  a 

sentence  is,  and  that  it  should  begin  with  a  capital 
letter  and  end  with  a  punctuation  mark. 

After  you  have  read  and  criticized  the  composi- 
tions, each  of  you  should  have  a  conversation  with 
the  writer  of  the  composition  assigned  to  you,  so 
that  you  may  tell  him  in  detail  what  you  think  of 
it — why  it  is  good  and  why  it  is  not.  Also,  the 
person  who  criticized  your  composition  will  talk  it 
over  with  you  in  the  same  way.  The  purpose  of 
this  is  to  enable  you  to  improve  your  own  writing 
by  noting  the  good  and  bad  points  in  the  work  of 
others.  If  you  have  any  differences  of  opinion,  you 
should  keep  in  good  humor. 

If  a  composition  one  of  you  has  read  and  criticized 
is  good,  let  it  be  read  before  the  class.  Then  the 
class  should  be  allowed  to  offer  criticisms  upon  it. 
Or,  if  you  think  it  is  exceptionally  good,  offer  it  to 
the  editor  of  the  school  paper,  in  case  you  have  one. 
If  it  should  be  rejected,  it  should  afterwards  be 
read  to  the  class  and  criticized. 


SENTENCE  STUDY   AND   REWRITING  A   STORY    29 

SENTENCE   STUDY  AND   REWRITING   A 
STORY 

23.  The  stories  given  below  are  three  fables  of 
^sop.  They  are  printed  here  without  capitals  and 
without  punctuation.  Read  each  one  aloud  in 
order  to  get  the  story  and  to  see  where  the  sentences 
begin  and  end.  After  you  have  read  one  of  the 
fables,  consider  each  sentence  by  itself,  and  tell 
what  kind  of  thought  it  expresses.  Then  rewrite 
the  whole  for  a  class  exercise,  being  careful  to  break 
it  up  into  sentences  (a)  by  beginning  the  first  word  in 
each  sentence  with  a  capital,  and  (h)  by  ending  each 
sentence  with  the  proper  punctuation  mark.  When- 
ever you  feel  sure  that  there  is  a  decided  pause  or 
break  in  the  sense,  use  a  comma.  You  should  also 
begin  the  first  word  and  other  important  words  of 
the  title  with  capitals. 

In  two  of  the  fables  you  will  find  such  words  as 
"cried,"  ''inquired,"  and  ''replied."  After  each 
comes  a  short  speech  by  one  of  the  characters  of 
the  story.  Begin  each  speech  with  a  capital,  set 
it  off  from  the  rest  of  the  sentence  with  a  comma, 
and  inclose  the  quoted  words  within  quotation 
marks. 

When  all  have  finished  rewriting  the  first  story, 
some  one  will  read  his  work,  sentence  by  sentence, 
to  the  class.  Determine  whether  or  not  he  ,  has 
done  well.  The  same  is  to  be  done  with  the  other 
stories. 

You  cannot  do  all  this  in  one  class  period;  take 
your  time,  and  do  the  work  well. 


30  A    COMPOSITION -GRAMMAR 

the  bear  and  the  two  travelers 

two  merx  were  traveling  together  when  a  bear  suddenly 
met  them  on  their  path  one  of  them  climbed  up  quickly 
into  a  tree  and  concealed  himself  in  the  branches  the  other 
seeing  that  he  must  be  attacked  fell  flat  on  the  ground 
and  when  the  bear  came  up  and  felt  him  with  his  snout 
and  smelt  him  all  over  he  held  his  breath  and  feigned  the 
appearance  of  death  as  much  as  he  could  the  bear  soon  left 
him  for  it  is  said  he  will  not  touch  a  dead  body  when  he  was 
quite  gone  the  other  traveler  descended  from  the  tree  and 
accosting  his  friend  inquired  what  was  it  the  bear  whispered 
in  your  ear  he  replied  he  gave  me  this  advice  never  travel 
with  a  friend  who  deserts  you  at  the  approach  of  danger 

Jupiter  and  the  frogs 

the  frogs  were  sorry  because  they  had  no  king  after 
consulting  among  themselves  they  sent  a  messenger  to 
Jupiter  to  ask  for  some  one  to  rule  over  them  seeing 
what  simple  creatures  they  were  he  cast  down  a  huge 
log  into  the  pond  the  frogs  terrified  by  the  splash  of  it 
hid  themselves  in  the  depth  of  the  pool  but  as  soon  as  they 
saw  that  it  was  motionless  they  were  no  longer  afraid 
of  it  and  even  squatted  upon  it  after  a  time  they  thought 
themselves  ill  treated  by  jupiter  and  sent  a  messenger 
to  him  to  ask  for  another  king  he  then  gave  them  an  eel 
to  govern  them  when  the  frogs  found  that  it  was  too  good 
natured  they  sent  a  third  time  to  jupiter  to  ask  that  he 
would  choose  for  them  still  another  king  jupiter  being 
displeased  at  their  complaints  sent  a  heron  who  preyed 
upon  the  frogs  day  by  day  till  there  were  none  left  to 
croak  in  the  pond 

the  shepherd  boy  and  the  wolf 

a  shepherd  boy  who  tended  his  flock  not  far  from  a 
village  used  to  amuse  himself  at  times  by  crying  out 


SENTENCE  STUDY  AND  REWRITING  A   STORY    31 

wolf  two  or  three  times  his  trick  succeeded  the  whole 
village  came  running  out  to  his  assistance  but  all  the 
return  they  got  was  to  be  laughed  at  for  their  pains  at 
last  one  day  the  wolf  came  indeed  and  the  boy  cried  out 
in  earnest  but  the  neighbors  supposing  him  to  be  at  his 
old  sport  paid  no  heed  to  his  cries  and  the  wolf  devoured 
the  sheep  so  the  boy  learned  when  it  was  too  late  that 
liars  are  not  believed  even  when  they  tell  the  truth 

24.  Study  the  following  passage  as  you  did  the 
fables  of  ^sop,  and  afterwards  rewrite  it.  After 
the  rewriting,  some  one  will  read  his  work  for  criti- 
cism. 

the  kettle  had  had  the  last  of  its  solo  performance  it 
persevered  with  undiminished  ardor  but  the  cricket  took 
first  fiddle  and  kept  it  its  sharp  shrill  piercing  voice 
resounded  through  the  house  and  seemed  to  twinkle  in 
the  outer  darkness  like  a  star  there  was  an  indescribable 
little  thrill  and  tremble  in  it  at  its  loudest  v/hich  suggested 
its  being  carried  off  its  legs  and  made  to  leap  again  by 
its  own  intense  enthusiasm  yet  they  went  very  well 
together  the  cricket  and  the  kettle  the  burden  of  the  song 
was  still  the  same  and  louder  louder  louder  still  they  sang 
it  in  their  emulation 

the  fair  little  listener  for  she  was  fair  and  young  lighted 
a  candle  glanced  at  the  haymaker  on  the  top  of  the 
clock  who  was  getting  in  a  pretty  average  crop  of  minutes 
and  looked  out  of  the  window  where  she  saw  nothing 
owing  to  the  darkness  but  her  own  face  imaged  in  the 
glass  and  she  might  have  looked  a  long  way  and  seen 
nothing  half  so  agreeable  when  she  came  back  and  sat 
down  in  her  former  seat  the  cricket  and  the  kettle  were 
still  keeping  it  up  with  a  perfect  fury  of  competition 

.  DICKENS  the  cricket  on  the  hearth 


32  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

DISCUSSION   OF  A  PICTURE 

25.  Examine  the  first  picture  in  this  book  and 
talk  about  it  in  class.  Consider  the  following 
points : 

a.  What  do  you  see  in  the  picture?     Describe  it  in 

detail.     What  do  you  think  it  means? 

b.  What  do  you  know  of  the  lite  of  the  Indian  before 

the  coming  of  the  white  man?  How  did  he  get 
his  food?  How  did  he  dress?  In  what  kind  of 
houses  did  he  live?  What  kind  of  government 
did  he  have?  Why  did  he  fight  against  the  white 
man? 

c.  Who  was  victorious  in  the  fight?     How  does  the 

Indian  live  now?  Does  he  still  hunt  and  fish? 
Does  he  engage  in  farming  and  industry?  What 
does  the  United  States  government  do  for  him? 
Is  his  race  increasing  or  diminishing?  Do  you 
think  he  is  happier  now  than  when  there  were  no 
white  men  here  ? 

Perhaps  you  will  use  a  whole  recitation  period  for 
this  discussion. 

Writing  about  the  Picture 

26.  You  talked  about  the  picture  from  three 
different  points  of  view.  First,  you  described  it. 
Second,  you  talked  about  the  Indian  as  he  was 
before  the  coming  of  the  white  man.  Third,  you 
talked  about  his  condition  after  the  coming  of  the 
white  man.  Now  when  you  write  on  this  subject 
your  composition  will  have  to  be  written  in  three 
paragraphs,  one  for  each  topic. 


DISCUSSION  OF  A    PICTURE  33 

What  title  will  you  give  the  composition?  You 
cannot  call  it  merely  "The  Indian,"  for  this  would 
lead  the  reader  to  expect  that  you  were  going  to  tell 
all  you  could  possibly  find  out  about  the  subject, 
which  is  not  true ;  you  are  going  to  tell  only  a  little 
about  the  picture  to  make  its  meaning  clear.  You 
will  have  to  select  some  title  that  will  indicate  the 
decline  of  the  red  race.  Perhaps  you  can  think  of 
several  suitable  titles. 

Take  a  recitation  period  to  write  the  composition. 
Be  careful  about  the  way  you  write  your  title.  Be 
careful,  too,  about  the  margins. 

Criticism 

27.  Exchange  papers,  and  give  one  another  the 
benefit  of  your  judgment.  Consider  the  following 
particulars : 

a.  Does  the  title  stand  out  prominently? 

h.  Are  the  margins  even  and  of  sufficient  width? 

c.  Does  each  of  the  three  paragraphs  sound  as  if  it 

were  one  topic? 

d.  Is  each  sentence  brought  to  its  proper  end,  and  does 

each  sentence  begin  with  a  capital  letter? 

e.  Are  there  any  mistakes  in  spelling?  in  grammar? 

If  so,  correct  them. 
/.     Is  the  composition  interesting?    Why? 

After  you  have  carefully  considered  one  another's 
compositions,  have  conferences  in  class,  and  try  to 
remember  the  criticisms  that  will  be  of  benefit  to  you. 

This  conference,  too,  may  very  well  take  a  full 
recitation  period. 


34  ^1    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Collecting  Pictures 

28.  It  is  likely  that  each  of  you  sometimes  finds 
an  interesting  picture  on  the  back  of  a  magazine  or 
in  an  advertisement.  It  is  worth  while  to  bring  such 
pictures  to  school,  to  give  them  into  the  care  of 
some  one  appointed  to  keep  them,  and  to  select 
one  occasionally  for  the  kind  of  writing  exercise 
you  have  just  had.  The  picture  you  select  for  any 
day's  work  should  be  hung  up  before  the  room 
where  everybody  can  examine  it  at  his  leisure;  it 
should  afterwards  be  discussed  in  class,  and  then 
be  made  the  subject  of  a  composition.  You  may 
want  to  make  a  composition  of  one  paragraph 
about  such  a  picture,  or  perhaps  of  two  or  three 
paragraphs;  but  you  should  not  attempt  to  make 
your  theme  long. 

The  person  who  is  appointed  to  care  for  the  col- 
lection of  pictures  should  make  a  portfolio  to  contain 
them.     Refer  to  section  16,  i,  for  instructions. 

EXERCISE  IN   CRITICISM 

29.  Here  are  two  themes  written  by  two  boys. 
Read  them  carefully,  so  that  you  may  pass  judgment 
on  them  afterward. 

I 

Once  last  siirnnier  we  had  a  swimming  race.  The  boys 
were  Frank  Williams,  Bob  McCarthy,  Glenn  Martin,  and  I. 

We  were  to  race  from  Manhattan  Beach  to  Windsor 
Beach.  We  started,  and  Bob  McCarthy  had  the  lead 
next  came  Glenn  Martin,  I  came  next  and  Frank  Williams 
came  last. 

When  we  got  to  the  goal,  Frank  Williams  came  in  first 


EXERCISE  IN   CRITICISM  35 

I  came  third  Bob  McCarthy  came  second  and  Glenn 
Martin  came  last  We  made  it  in  five  minutes  and  three 
seconds. 

II 

The  first  thing  I  can  clearly  remember  was  my  father's 
lumber  camp.  We  spent  the  summer  up  there  when 
I  was  about  five  years  old.  It  was  a  large  forest,  sur- 
rounded by  saw-tooth  mountains,  on  the  shore  of  Lake 
Superior,  in  Canada. 

We  stayed  in  a  little  log  cabin  right  on  the  lake 
shore.  We  could  hear  the  waves  break  on  the  rocks 
at  night.  The  country  was  very  wild  and  big  game 
was  plentiful. 

One  night  when  we  were  coming  home  from  the  lumber 
camp,  which  was  about  two  miles  away,  we  were  very 
much  frightened  by  the  scream  of  a  panther  right  above 
our  heads.  He  had  followed  us  quite  a  way,  springing 
from  tree  to  tree.  Something  frightened  him  because  he 
got  away  very  quickly. 

One  time  when  I  was  up  at  the  camp  for  dinner,  I  saw 
two  lumber-jacks  eating.  One  used  his  knife  for  a  fork, 
and  the  other  used  his  fork  like  a  dagger,  that  is  he  held 
it  that  way  every  time  he  took  a  bite  I  thought  he  would 
swallow  his  fork.  After  I  had  watched  them  I  had  no 
appetite  for  dinner. 

30.  These  compositions  are  a  good  subject  for 
conversation  in  class.     Consider  the  following  points : 

a.  Is  it  not  clear  that  one  of  the  boys  had  thought  more 

and  felt  more  about  what  he  had  experienced  than 
had  the  other?  Which  one  was  it?  Give  good 
reasons  for  your  answer. 

b.  Consider  the  composition  that  you  have  judged  to 

be  inferior  in  this  respect.     What  more  could  the 


36  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

boy  have  told  that  you  would  like  to  know?  In 
discussing  this  question,  take  up  the  composition 
paragraph  by  paragraph,  and  tell  what  you  would 
like  to  have  added  to  each. 

c.  Could  the  author  of  the  other  composition  have 

added  anything  of  interest  to  it  ?     What  ? 

d.  Has  your  consideration  of  these  questions  made  you 

see  that  you  could  have  added  something  of 
interest  to  some  composition  that  you  have  written 
in  the  past?    What  is  it? 

e.  Every  main  division  of  a  short  composition  should 

be  written  in  a  paragraph  by  itself.  Can  you 
see  any  reason  for  believing  that  the  first  sentence 
of  the  second  paragraph  of  the  first  composition 
should  be  in  the  first  paragraph? 

/.  Make  a  title  for  each  composition;  be  sure  that 
it  fits. 

g.  Read  both  compositions  aloud  in  class  and  determine 
whether  the  writers  brought  all  their  sentences  to 
an  end  by  the  use  of.  the  period,  and  began  the 
next  by  the  use  of  the  capital  letter.  If  they 
failed  to  do  so,  determine  where  changes  should 
be  made.  Perhaps,  in  some  places,  you  will  prefer 
to  use  a  comma  rather  than  a  period;  the  comma 
stands  for  a  slighter  break  in  the  sentence  than  the 
periods 

THE  APOSTROPHE 

31.  The  two  compositions  we  have  been  con- 
sidering were  not  printed  precisely  as  they  were 
written.  It  must  be  admitted  that  both  writers 
made  a  few  mistakes.  For  example,  the  boy  who 
wrote  the  second  composition  omitted  the  apostrophe 
from  the  word  father's.     He  doubtless  knew,  as  you 


THE  APOSTROPHE  37 

know,  that  the  apostrophe  is  used  when  a  word 
that  is  a  name  indicates  possession;  but,  like  you, 
he  was  occasionally  careless.  Sometimes  the  apos- 
trophe comes  before  the  final  5  of  such  words,  and 
sometimes  after  it.  When  it  comes  before  the  5  the 
word  is  singular;  that  is,  it  denotes  only  one  thing. 
When  it  comes  after  the  s  the  word  is  plural;  that 
is,  it  denotes  more  than  one  thing.  There  are  a 
few  exceptions  to  this  rule,  however,  for  we  write 
children's  and  men's  and  women's.  In  these  plural 
words  the  apostrophe  comes  before  the  s.  In  the 
following  groups  of  words,  tell  which  words  that 
indicate  possession  are  singular  and  which  are  plural : 

my  father's  liimber  camp  their  fathers'  lumber  camp 

my  sisters'  work  the  city's  streets 

Bums's  poems  Dickens's  works 

the  ocean's  tides  the  moon's  phases 

the  senators'  privilege  a  mothers'  meeting 

the  children's  games  the  women's  meeting 

Some  people  prefer  to  write  Burns'  poems,  Dickens' 
novels,  Jones'  house  because  they  don't  like  the 
sound  of  Bums's  poems,  Dickens's  novels,  Jones's 
house.     The  latter  are  nevertheless  correct. 

The  apostrophe  is  also  used  to  indicate  the 
omission  of  a  letter  in  certain  shortened,  or  con- 
tracted, words.     Examples  are  given  below: 

does  n't  {does  not)  don't  {do  not) 

shan't  {shall  not)  .  won't  {will  not) 

was  n't  {was  not)  were  n't  {were  not) 

is  n't  {is  not)  are  n't  {are  not) 

it 's  {it  is)  I  'm  (/  am) 


38  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

These  contractions  are  said  to  be  colloquial,  that 
is,  used  in  familiar  writing  and  speaking;  but  they 
are  not  much  used  in  the  more  dignified  kinds  of 
composition. 

The  apostrophe  is  used  also  in  poetry  when  the 
poet  wishes  to  shorten  words,  as  in  caWd  for  called 
and  ne'er  for  never.     Example, — 

"His  broad  clear  brow  in  sunlight  glow'd; 
On  burnish 'd  hooves  his  war-horse  trode." 

Tennyson,  The  Lady  of  Shalott 

In  writing  these  lines  Tennyson  wished  to  make 
sure  that  the  last  word  in  the  first  line  would  not  be 
pronounced  glow-ed  (as  final  ed  is  sometimes  pro- 
nounced in  poetry),  for  in  that  case  the  word  would 
not  have  rimed  with  trode.  Again,  he  wrote  hurn- 
isKd,  in  the  second  line,  so  that  the  word  might  not 
be  pronounced  burnish-ed,  for  that  would  have 
spoiled  the  meter  of  the  line. 

A  rather  rare  use  for  the  apostrophe  is  in  the 
following : 

two  lo's  two  a's 

Examples:     There  are  two  lo's  in  20.     There  are  two 
a's  and  two  n's  in  Anna. 

You  are  especially  likely  to  make  a  mistake  in  the 
case  of  its  and  it's.  The  first  indicates  possession, 
as  in  the  sentence  Our  clock  has  lost  one  of  its  hands; 
and,  strange  to  say,  there  the  apostrophe  is  not  used. 
But  in  the  sentence  It's  ten  o'clock,  the  apostrophe 
is  used  because  it's  is  a  contraction  for  it  is. 

Write  some  sentences  containing  words  in  which 
the  apostrophe  must  be  used. 


SOME   SUBJECTS   FOR    COMPOSITION  39 

SOME   SUBJECTS  FOR   COMPOSITION 

32.  The  first  composition  that  you  read  in  section 
29  was  not  very  good;  the  second  was  better.  Can 
you  not  write  more  fully  and  more  interestingly  on 
some  of  your  own  experiences?  You  are  probably 
enjoying  your  own  lives,  and  if  you  can  tell  what  you 
have  done  at  some  time  or  other,  and  if  you  can  tell 
what  you  thought  and  what  you  felt,  you  can  interest 
others.  You  can  talk  glibly  enough  on  the  play- 
ground, and  you  can  learn  to  write  just  as  fully  in 
the  schoolroom  if  you  will  only  let  yourselves  out. 

Select  some  experience  that  you  have  had — a 
journey,  a  visit,  an  adventure,  a  game  that  you  have 
played,  something  that  you  have  seen — and  write 
about  it  fully.  If  possible,  use  some  conversation 
in  what  you  write.  But  before  you  begin,  read  the 
next  section  and  follow  instructions  given  there. 

Blackboard  and  Seat  Work 

33.  When  you  are  ready  to  write,  some  arrange- 
ment should  be  made  for  at  least  one  of  the  compo- 
sitions to  be  written  on  the  blackboard,  so  that 
everybody  can  see  it  and  criticize  it.  Perhaps  one 
pupil  will  be  willing  to  copy  his  work  on  the  black- 
board after  school  so  that  it  can  be  used  in  the 
English  period  the  next  day ;  or,  better  still,  perhaps 
at  least  one  of  the  class  may  be  asked  to  write  on 
the  blackboard  while  the  others  are  writing  at 
their  seats,  and  the  work  can  be  left  until  the 
next  day.  Still  another  possibility  is  that,  if  the 
English  period  is  long  enough,  both  the  writing  and 


40  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

the  criticism  may  be  accomplished  the  same  day. 

At  all  events,  a  composition  should  be  written 
in  the  class,  and  the  work  of  at  least  one  pupil 
should  be  on  the  blackboard.  When  the  time  for 
criticism  has  come,  this  pupil  should  read  his 
composition  aloud,  so  that  it  can  be  judged  for  its 
interest ;  that  is,  the  class  should  say  whether  or  not 
the  writer  has  said  enough  important  and  interesting 
things  about  his  subject,  and  whether  or  not  he  has 
well  arranged  and  paragraphed  it.  Then  he  should 
read  the  composition  aloud  again,  sentence  by 
sentence,  telling  what  kind  each  sentence  is,  and 
why  he  has  used  the  punctuation  marks  and  capitals 
as  he  did.  The  class  should  criticize  him  carefully, 
compelling  him  to  give  satisfactory  reasons  for  his 
work  or  to  make  the  necessary  changes.  Whenever 
he  has  written  a  sentence  that  is  incomplete,  or  does 
not  sound  well,  he  should  be  required  to  rewrite  it, 
making  the  necessary  corrections. 

When  the  blackboard  work  has  been  completed, 
the  pupils  who  wrote  at  their  seats  should  exchange 
papers  and  be  allowed  a  sufficient  time  to  consider 
them  carefully,  noting  the  same  points  as  those 
indicated  above.  After  this,  a  short  time  should 
be  given  for  free  conferences  between  writers  and 
critics. 

This  exercise  should  be  continued  a  number  of 
weeks  if  necessary,  to  give  you  practice  in  writ- 
ing and  to  fix  the  habit  of  beginning  and  ending 
sentences  properly.  Do  not  be  content  with  mod- 
erate success. 


WHY  THE  STUD  V  OF  GRA  MM  A  R  IS  NEC  ESS  A  RY     4^ 

Further   Subjects   for  Composition 

34.  The  subjects  that  you  write  on  should  always 
be  subjects  about  which  you  know  something,  and 
in  which  you  are  interested.  For  further  composi- 
tion choose  from  those  that  follow  unless  you  are 
sure  you  can  choose  better  subjects. 

Why  My  Father's  Business  Is  a  Good  One 
The  Business  I  Should  Prefer 
My  Experience  in  Marketing 
My  First  Earnings 

Why  Farm  Life  Is  Better  than  City  Life 
Why  City  Life  Is  Better  than  Farm  Life 
Why  I  Prefer  a  Trade  to  a  Profession 
Why  I  Prefer  a  Profession  to  a  Trade 
When  you  have  chosen  subjects,  reread  section  32. 

WHY  THE  STUDY  OF  GRAMMAR  IS  NECESSARY 

35.  By  this  time  you  should  have  made  im- 
provement in  recognizing  the  sentence, — that  is, 
in  knowing  where  your  sentences  begin  and  where 
they  end.  If  you  have  all  done  this,  you  have  done 
something  worth  while.  But  this  is  not  enough.  As 
long  as  you  use  the  English  language,  the  question 
Is  my  sentence  correct  f  will  arise  in  your  minds,  and 
you  will  not  be  able  to  answer  it  unless  you  know 
more  about  grammar  than  you  do  now.  It  will  be 
necessary,  then,  for  you  to  study  the  parts  of  the 
sentence,  subject,  predicate,  and  so  on,  so  that  you 
may  finally  understand  their  relation  to  one  another. 

Some  of  this  study  will  be  review,  but  most  of  it 
will  be  advance  work. 


Part  II 

THE   MAIN   PARTS   OF  THE   SEN- 
TENCE:   COMPOSITION 

COMPLETE  PREDICATES   AND   COMPLETE 
SUBJECTS 

36.  Read  the  following  sentences  very  carefully: 

1.  "A  boy  was  stung  by  a  nettle." 

2.  "Her  two  sisters  jeered  at  her." 

3.  "An  astronomer  used  to  go  out  of  a  night  to  observe 
the  stars." 

4.  "A  hare  once  ridiculed  the  short  legs  and  slow  pace 
of  the  tortoise." 

5.  "The  bridge  became  more  than  ever  an  object  of 
superstitious  awe." 

6.  "Hans  Van  Ripper  now  began  to  feel  some  uneasi- 
ness about  the  fate  of  poor  Ichabod  and  the  saddle." 

7.  "The  Mock  Turtle  sighed  deeply,  and  drew  the 
back  of  one  flapper  across  his  eyes." 

In  each  of  these  sentences  there  is  a  word  or  a 
group  of  words  that  asserts,  or  predicates,  something. 
Such  a  word  or  group  of  words  is  called  a  complete 
predicate. 

Besides  the  predicate,  there  is  in  each  of  these 
sentences  a  word  or  a  group  of  words  about  which 
this  same  '*  something"  is  asserted,  or  predicated. 
Such  a  word  or  group  of  words  is  called  a  complete 
subject. 

42 


PREDICATES  AND   SUBJECTS  43 

In  the  first  sentence  the  predicate  is  ''was  stung 
by  a  nettle,"  since  this  group  of  words  predicates, 
that  is,  tells  what  was  done.  If  you  ask  Who  (or 
what)  was  stung?  you  get  the  reply,  "A  boy."  The 
complete  subject  is  therefore  ''A  boy." 

In  the  second  sentence  the  words  that  predicate 
are  "jeered  at  her."  If  you  ask,  Who  (or  what) 
jeered  ?  you  get  the  reply,  ' '  Her  two  sisters. "  '  *  Her 
two  sisters"  is  therefore  the  complete  subject. 

What  are  the  complete  predicates  and  the  complete 
subjects  of  the  other  sentences? 

37.  Let  a  member  of  the  class  copy  one  of  his 
compositions  on  the  blackboard,  and  tell  what  is  the 
complete  predicate  and  the  complete  subject  of  each 
sentence. 

PREDICATE  VERB,   SUBJECT   SUBSTANTIVE, 
AND   MODIFIERS 

38.  Reconsider  the  example  sentences  in  section 
36.  In  the  first  sentence  "was  stung  by  a  nettle" 
is  the  complete  predicate;  but  there  are  two  words 
that  tell  simply  what  was  done,  and  three  others  tell, 
in  this  case,  how  it  was  done.  The  words  that  tell 
what  was  done  are  "was  stung";  and  these  words 
are  called  the  predicate  verb.  The  words  that  tell 
how  the  thing  was  done  are  "by  a  nettle."  Because 
you  think  of  these  words  as  belonging  to  the  verb, 
that  is,  because  they  narrow  its  meaning,  or  modify 
it,  they  are  called  modifiers  of  the  verb.  In  like 
manner  the  subject  is  often  composed  partly  of 
modifiers;   the   simple   subject  itself  is   called  the 


44  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

subject  substantive.  In  the  sentence  we  are  con- 
sidering, '*boy"  is  the  subject  substantive,  and 
"A"  is  a  modifier. 

In  the  second  sentence  "jeered  at  her"  is  the 
complete  predicate,  while  ''jeered"  is  the  predicate 
verb  and  "at  her"  the  modifier.  Also,  "Her  two 
sisters"  is  the  complete  subject,  while  "sisters" 
is  the  subject  substantive  and  "Her"  and  "two" 
are  the  modifiers. 

The  predicate  verb,  then,  is  the  word  or  group 
of  words  that  asserts.  Run,  go,  am,  be,  have,  have 
been,  and  had  been  seen  are  predicate  verbs.  When 
the  predicate  verb  is  a  group  of  words,  like  the  last 
three  in  the  list,  it  is  called  a  verb  phrase. 

The  subject  substantive  is  that  part  of  the  sentence 
about  which  something  is  asserted  by  the  predicate 
verb.  Subject  substantives  are  usually  nouns,  as 
man,  beast,  duty,  courage,  audience;  or  pronouns,  as 
J,  you,  we,  and  they. 

Consider  again  the  sentences  given  in  section  36, 
and  determine  in  each  case  what  is  the  complete 
predicate,  the  predicate  verb,  the  complete  subject, 
and  the  subject  substantive. 

39.  After  a  composition  has  been  written  on  the 
blackboard,  determine  the  complete  predicate,  the 
predicate  verb,  the  complete  subject,  and  the  subject 
substantive  of  each  sentence. 

THERE 

40.  In  the  sentence  There  is  a  cloud  in  the  sky, 
you  may  think  that  "there"  is  the  subject,  but  it  is 


PREDICATES  AND   SUBJECTS  45 

not;  the  subject  is  ** cloud,"  for  it  is  the  cloud  that 
is  in  the  sky.  And  if  you  will  think  the  matter  over 
carefully,  you  will  see  that  "there"  really  means 
nothing;  it  is  simply  a  word  that  we  use  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sentence,  where  the  subject  usually 
comes,  so  that  the  subject  may  follow  the  predicate 
verb.  This  is  an  idiom,  that  is,  an  expression  pe- 
culiar to  a  language.  In  a  question  the  word  has 
a  different  position,  as  in  Is  there  a  cloud  in  the  sky? 

There  is  also  used  as  in  the  sentence  No  clouds  are 
in  the  sky;  the  sun  is  shining  there.  Here  the  word 
has  a  distinct  meaning,  which  is  in  that  place;  it 
prevents  the  repetition  of  "in  the  sky." 

Their,  which  is  pronounced  nearly  the  same  as 
the  other  word  but  has  a  different  spelling,  is  a  very 
different  word;  it  expresses  possession,  as  in  the  ex- 
ample sentence,  The  clouds  have  lost  their  color. 

The  spelling  of  these  words  must  be  attended 
to  carefully:  their  gives  the  idea  of  belonging  to, 
while  there  either  means  nothing  at  all  or  it  means 
in  that  place, 

41.  Write  on  the  blackboard  some  sentences 
containing  the  words  there  and  their. 

PREDICATES   AND    SUBJECTS   CONTINUED 

42.  Read  the  following  sentences  with  care: 

1.  **A  monkey,  perched  upon  a  lofty  tree,  saw  some 
fishermen  casting  their  nets  into  a  river." 

2.  **If  you  would  only  spare  my  life,  I  would  be  sure 
to  repay  your  kindness." 

3.  "This  is  the  house  that  Jack  built." 


46  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

4.  "A  horse,  an  ox,  and  a  dog,  sought  shelter  and 
protection  from  man." 

5.  "A  fisherman,  engaged  in  his  calUng,  made  a  very 
successful  cast,  and  captured  a  great  haul  of  fish." 

6.  "Ichabod  was  a  suitable  figure  for  such  a  steed." 

7.  "Is  not  this  man  worthy  to  resemble  thee?" 

8.  **A  wolf,  having  a  bone  stuck  in  his  throat,  hired  a 
crane,  for  a  large  sum,  to  put  her  head  into  his  throat 
and  draw  out  the  bone." 

9.  "These  sails  we  lowered,  in  terror  of  our  lives." 

10.  "Some  dogs,  who  had  found  the  skin  of  a  Hon, 
began  to  tear  it  in  pieces  with  their  teeth." 

11.  "Bind  up  my  wounds!" 

The  sentences  above  are  to  be  treated  like  those 
in  section  36,  but  they  are  rather  more  difficult.  In 
the  first  one  the  complete  predicate  is  "saw  some 
fishermen  casting  their  nets  into  a  river,"  and  the 
predicate  verb  is  "saw,"  the  rest  being  a  modifier. 
The  complete  subject  is  "A  monkey,  perched  upon 
a  lofty  tree,"  while  "monkey"  is  the  subject  sub- 
stantive and  "A"  and  "perched  upon  a  lofty  tree" 
are  modifiers. 

The  second  sentence  is  particularly  difficult 
because  you  will  have  to  determine  whether  * '  If  you 
would  only  spare  my  life"  is  a  modifier  of  the 
predicate  or  of  the  subject.  To  which  do  you  more 
closely  attach  it?  The  sentence  is  difficult,  too, 
because  this  group  of  words  has  its  own  predicate 
verb,  "would  spare,"  and  its  own  subject,  "you"; 
and  yet  this  verb  is  not  the  verb  of  the  whole 
sentence,  nor  is  the  subject  the  subject  of  the  whole 


MISTAKES  IN   THE    USE  OF   VERBS  47 

sentence.  In  fact,  a  group  of  words  having  its 
own  verb  and  subject  is  very  commonly  used  as  a 
modifier,  as  in  this  case. 

The  fourth  sentence  is  difficult  because  it  has 
more  than  one  subject. 

The  seventh  sentence  is  difficult  because  it  is 
interrogative;  the  predicate  verb  is  before  the  com- 
plete subject ;  or,  to  put  it  differently,  the  complete 
subject  comes  between  different  parts  of  the  com- 
plete predicate. 

The  last  sentence  is  difficult  because  it  has  no  ex- 
pressed subject;  that  is,  the  sentence  is  all  predicate. 
It  resembles  an  example  sentence  in  section  8. 

43.  Write  a  short  composition  on  the  blackboard, 
or  consider  a  paragraph  in  your  geography  or  history, 
and  determine  what  words  or  groups  of  words  are 
subject  substantives  and  predicate  verbs,  and  what 
are  modifiers.  Sometimes  you  may  find  a  sentence 
that  has  two  or  more  sets  of  subjects  and  predicates. 
Do  not  be  puzzled  by  this;  such  sentences  will  be 
studied  later. 

MISTAKES  IN  THE  USE   OF  VERBS: 
MAY  AND   CAN 

44.  Do  you  ever  say  to  the  teacher,  Can  I  speak  f 
And  if  you  do,  does  it  occur  to  you,  or  does  the 
teacher  tell  you,  that  the  question  is  nonsense? 
Of  course  you  can  speak.  Are  you  not  speaking 
when  you  ask  the  question?  What  you  mean  is 
May  I  speak f  For  Can  I  speak?  means  Have  I 
the  power  to  speak  f  and  May  I  speak  f  means  Have 


48  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

I  your  permission  to  speak  f  Remember,  too,  that 
could  expresses  past  time  for  can,  and  might  expresses 
past  time  for  may.  Tell  why  the  following  sentences 
contain  correct  uses  of  these  words. 

1.  May  I  raise  the  window? 

2.  I  asked  the  teacher  if  I  might  raise  the  window. 

3.  Do  you  think  I  can  raise  the  window? 

4.  You  may  try,  if  you  like. 

5.  He  wanted  to  know  if  I  thought  I  could  lift  him. 

6.  I  asked  him  if  I  might  try. 

7.  Can  a  fish  speak? 

8.  May  we  study  together? 

45.  Write  on  the  blackboard  sentences  containing 
the  words  may,  can,  might,  and  could. 

COMPOUND    PREDICATE    VERBS    AND    SUBJECT 
SUBSTANTIVES:    CONNECTIVE  WORDS 

46.  Sometimes  predicate  verbs  or  subject  sub- 
stantives occur  in  pairs;  or  there  may  be  several 
subject  substantives  for  one  predicate  verb,  or 
several  predicate  verbs  for  one  subject  substantive. 
Such  predicate  verbs  and  such  subject  substantives 
are  called  compound  predicate  verbs  and  compound 
subject  substantives.  Or,  when  there  are  three  or 
more  words  in  the  compound  predicate  verb  or  sub- 
ject, we  say  that  the  words  are  in  series.  In  this  case 
commas  are  used  between  them.  When  there  are 
two  verbs  or  subjects,  they  are  likely  to  be  joined  by 
and,  or,  or  but.  If  there  are  several  verbs  or  several 
subjects,  one  of  these  little  words  is  usually  used  be- 
tween the  last  two.     Because  they  join,  or  connect, 


COMPOUND  PREDICATE    VERBS  49 

they  are  called,  for  the  present,  connective  words. 
There  are  others  besides  those  mentioned;  they 
will  be  considered  later. 

The  following  sentences  contain  examples : 

1.  "A  serpent  and  an  eagle  were  struggling  with  each 
other." 

2.  "A  thief  hired  a  room  in  a  tavern,  and  stayed  there 
some  days." 

3.  "A  horse,  an  ox,  and  a  dog  sought  shelter  and  pro- 
tection from  man." 

4.  "Then  Cinderella  put  her  hand  into  her  pocket,  and 
drew  forth  the  other  glass  slipper." 

5.  "Something  had  been  originally  left  out,  or  had  de- 
parted." 

6.  "He,  likewise,  was  a  native  of  the  valley,  but  had 
spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  at  a  distance  from  that 
romantic  region." 

7.  "They  stood,  or  sat,  or  reclined  upon  the  grass." 

In  the  first  sentence  the  predicate  verb  is  ''were 
struggling."  Since  it  was  both  the  serpent  and  the 
eagle  that  were  struggling,  "serpent"  and  "eagle" 
are  the  compound  subject  substantive.  The  con- 
nective word  is  "and." 

Has  the  second  sentence  a  compound  predicate 
verb  or  a  compound  subject  substantive?  What  is 
the  connective  word? 

Answer  the  same  question  with  regard  to  the  other 
sentences. 

What  compound  predicate  verb  and  what  com- 
pound subject  substantive  are  in  series?  What  do 
you  notice  about  the  connective  in  these  cases? 
What  about  the  punctuation? 


50  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

MODIFIERS 

47.  Compound  predicate  verbs  and  subject  sub- 
stantives may  also  have  modifiers.  For  example, 
each  of  the  subject  substantives  of  the  first  sentence 
in  section  46  has  a  short  modifier  of  its  own ;  and  in 
the  second  sentence  the  two  predicate  verbs  have 
modifiers. 

Determine  what  are  the  modifiers  of  all  predicate 
verbs  and  subject  substantives  in  the  example 
sentences. 

48.  Write  some  sentences  that  have  compound 
predicate  verbs  and  compound  subject  substantives. 
If  the  compound  parts  are  in  series,  be  sure  to  use 
commas  between  them,  and  even  before  the  con- 
nective word  that  joins  the  last  two.  Determine 
what  are  the  modifiers  of  each  verb  and  each  subject. 

Mistakes  in  the  Use  of  Modifiers 

49.  You  use  the  word  this  to  mean  a  single  thing, 
as  in  the  expression  this  man;  and  you  use  these 
to  mean  more  than  one  thing,  as  in  the  expression 
these  men.  So  also  you  say  that  man  and  those  men. 
This,  these,  that,  and  those  are  very  often  modifiers, 
and  they  should  be  used  as  already  indicated.  9  But 
many  people  make  a  mistake  when  one  of  these 
words  modifies  the  word  kind.  Do  you  say  this 
kind  oj  man  and  that  kind  of  man?  That  is,  do 
you  use  the  modifier  that  means  one  thing  before 
the  word  that  means  one  thing?  If  you  don't,  you 
should. 

Another  very  bad  mistake  is  seen  in  expressions 


STUDY  OF  A   PICTURE  S'l 

such  as  them  boys.     Them  is  never  a  modifier.     Say 
those  boys  or  these  boys. 

50.  Write  on  the  blackboard  some  sentences 
containing  this,  these,  that,  and  those  as  modifiers. 

STUDY  OF  COMPOUND   VERBS  AND   SUBJECTS 

51.  In  the  following  passage  determine  what  are 
the  compound  predicate  verbs  and  subject  sub- 
stantives, and  what  are  their  modifiers: 

The  cat,  the  squirrel,  the  panther,  and  the  bear  are  all 
animals  that  climb  trees.  Pussy  herself  is  often  seen 
crawling  along  a  big  limb,  endeavoring  to  capture  a 
sparrow  or  a  robin.  The  nimble  little  squirrel  can  jump 
from  branch  to  branch,  or  even  leap  from  tree  to  tree, 
and  never  fail  to  grip  the  bark  with  its  sharp  claws.  The 
strong,  lithe  panther  can  often  reach  a  low  branch  with 
one  quick  bound,  but  cannot  climb  so  high  as  the  cat  and 
the  squirrel  because  of  his  greater  weight.  The  bear, 
the  heaviest  of  all  these  animals,  climbs  more  slowly 
than  the  others,  remains  close  to  the  trunk  of  the  tree, 
and  loves  to  rest  in  a  fork  of  the  larger  branches,  where 
he  contemplates  all  below  him  with  security  and  calm- 
ness. The  short  legs,  the  strong  claws,  and  the  powerful 
muscles  of  these  four  animals  make  it  possible  for  them 
to  be  climbers. 

STUDY   OF  A  PICTURE 

52.  Opposite  page  52  there  is  a  picture  which  you 
are  to  study  and  talk  about  in  class.  Answer  the 
following  questions  about  it: 

a.  What  do  you  regard  as  the  most  important  thing 

in  the  picture?     Why? 

b.  What  things  are  of  secondary  importance?     Why? 


52  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

c.  Do  you  see  any  similarity  between  the  big  house 

outside  and  the  little  house  in  the  workshop? 
Did  the  boy  have  anything  to  do  with  bringing 
this  about? 

d.  If  he  did,  which  was  built  first — the  real  house  or 

the  model  ? 

e.  How  did  it  all  happen  ?     Can  you  see  a  story  here  ? 
/.   What  is  the  boy  preparing  to  be  when  he  becomes 

a  man? 
g.  There  must  be  a  story  in  this  picture.     What  title 
do  you  think  it  ought  to  have? 

Writing  and  Reading  a  Story 

53.  Take  a  lesson  period  to  write  the  story  of  the 
picture.  The  following  day  some  one  who  has  suc- 
ceeded in  finishing  the  work,  will  read  to  the  class 
what  he  has  written.  After  he  has  read,  ask  your- 
selves the  following  questions : 

a.'  Has  the  writer  described  the  picture  in  an  interesting 

way? 
h.  Has  he  made  you  interested  in  the  boy  and  his  work? 
c.  Has  he  given  some  interesting  events  that  come  to 

an  end  that  is  pleasing  and  is  all  you  want  to  know? 

Ask  two  or  three  other  boys  and  girls  to  read 
their  stories  and  determine  who  has  done  best,  and 
why.     Try  to  find  out  what  makes  a  good  story. 

A  Grammar  Lesson 

54.  After  this  work  has  been  accomplished,  the 
pupil  who  wrote  the  best  story  will  copy  it,  or  much 
of  it,  on  the  blackboard  after  school  so  that  it  may 
be  used  the  next  day  for  a  grammar  lesson.     Then 


«      *  e   *>    -•  •      <i 
i\    o     •    «>    »«»    o      « 


COMPOSITIONS  BY  PUPILS  53 

in   class  time  study  it,  sentence  by  sentence,  and 
determine 

a.  What  is  the  predicate  and  the  subject  of  each  sen- 

tence, whether  they  are  simple  or  compound,  and 
whether  there  are  connective  words. 

b.  Whether  the  predicate  and  the  subject  have  modi- 

fiers. 

c.  Whether  the  writer  has  made  any  of  the  mistakes 

mentioned  in  sections  44  and  49. 

COMPOSITIONS  BY  PUPILS 

55.  Two  compositions  written  by  school  girls  are 
given  below.     Read  them  with  care. 

About  eight  years  ago  my  little  cousin,  who  was  a  fair- 
haired,  blue-eyed,  chubby  little  boy,  came  to  visit  me 
from  St.  Louis.     Myself  a  little  girl  about  four. 

My  cousin's  mother  being  quite  ill  and  in  care  of  a 
doctor,  and  with  my  mother  as  a  nurse,  we  were  left  to 
amuse  ourselves  in  the  front  yard. 

We  were  playing  only  a  few  minutes  when  the  laundry 
man  appeared  and  stopped  at  the  side  gate. 

While  he  delivered  the  laundry  we  proceeded  to  take 
a  drive  in  the  wagon.  My  little  cousin  helped  me  in 
and  then  jumped  in  himself.  Before  he  was  comfortably 
seated  I  whipped  up  the  horse  and  we  were  off  at  a  gallop, 
going  several  blocks  before  we  were  captured  by  an 
officer. 

We  were  taken  home  and  left  again  in  the  yard.  About 
half  an  hour  later  we  disappeared  and  went  scampering 
down  the  street.  We  wandered  into  the  police  station. 
The  officers  of  the  station  amused  us,  laughed  and  played 
with  us,  and  fed  us  candy.  Then  put  us  in  the  matron's 
charge,  while  mother  and  aunty,  ill  as  she  was,  searched 


54  A  'COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

the  whole  neighborhood  for  us  and  had  a  dozen  or  more 
children  hunting  us. 

At  last  they  went  in  aid  of  the  police,  and  mother  with 
tears  streaming  down  her  face  entered  the  station,  She 
was  greeted  by  the  sergeant,  He  said,  "I  know  you  have 
lost  your  babies,  come  on  in."  Mother  was  breathless 
and  could  hardly  speak. 

When  she  entered  the  station  there  we  two  were  with 
our  hands  full  of  sticky  candy,  and  trying  to  sHde  down 
the  raiHng  of  the  winding  stairway,  laughing  and  having 
the  best  time. 

Mother  hugged  us  both,  and  taking  our  hands  led  us 
home 

We  were  down  town  in  one  of  the  large  stores  when 
suddenly  I  missed  my  mother.  Then  the  terrifying  idea 
occurred  that  I  was  lost!  Suddenly  an  idea  occurred 
to  me. 

There  was  the  moving  stairs  I  could  stand  on  it  and 
look  around  and  so  I  carried  this  idea  into  execution. 

I  looked  around  over  their  heads  and  it  was  like  a  vast 
number  of  hats.  Soon  I  detected  my  mother  searching 
around  here  and  there.    And  so  the  search  was  ended. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

56.  These  two  stories  must  be  thought  over  very 
carefully  and  discussed  in  class.  Use  the  following 
list  of  particulars: 

a.  Which  composition  is  the  better?    Why? 

b.  One  writer  has,  told  more  than  the  other.     Is  this 

because  one  story  was  in  itself  better  than  the 
other,  or  because  one  writer  was  better  than  the 
other,  or  do  you  have  to  give  both  reasons? 


COMPOSITIONS  BY  PUPILS  55 

c.  When  you  are  choosing  a  theme  for  composition,  do 

you  stop  to  consider  whether  the  first  thing  you 
think  of  is  worth  writing  about?  That  is,  do  you 
take  care  to  choose  some  subject  that  you  are  full  of  ? 

d.  Very  short  paragraphs  are  usually  to  be  avoided. 

Sometimes  paragraphs  are  short  because  the  writer 
had  very  little  to  say  about  that  division  of  his 
composition,  and  sometimes  because  he  made  too 
many  paragraph  divisions ;  that  is,  he  made  two  or 
more  paragraphs  out  of  what  should  have  been  one. 
Do  you  think  that  either  one  of  these  mistakes 
occurred  in  the  longer  of  the  two  themes  ?  Be  sure 
to  come  to  a  conclusion  about  this  matter. 

e.  Are  there  any  apostrophes  in  either  of  the  composi- 

tions?    If  so,  why  are  they  used? 

/.  Have  both  writers  ended  all  the  sentences  with 
periods?  It  is  very  easy  to  make  a  comma  when 
you  intend  to  make  a  period.  Young  writers 
should  use  a  great  deal  of  care  in  this  matter. 

g.  Do  you  discover  that  some  of  the  sentences  are  very 
impleasant — that  they  hardly  express  what  the 
writer  intended  to  say?  Rewrite  some  of  these 
sentences  on  paper  so  that  they  may  be  written 
on  the  blackboard  when  you  come  to  class;  make 
them  sound  better,  and  make  them  mean  just 
what  the  writer  intended  to  say. 

57.  Take  up  the  two  compositions,  sentence  by- 
sentence,  and  determine  what  are  the  predicate  verbs 
and  subject  substantives,  and  the  modifiers,  of  both. 

Spelling:  Doubling  the  Final  Consonant 

58.  The  compositions  in  section  55,  like  some 
others  already   given,   were   corrected   a  little   in 


56  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

spelling  before  they  were  printed.  One  of  the  mis- 
spelled words  was  occurred;  the  pupil  wrote  it  with 
only  one  r.  There  is  a  very  simple  explanation 
about  the  spelling  of  such  words,  and  it  is  given  below. 
The  letters  a,  e,  i,  o,  u,  and  sometimes  w  and  y,  are 
spoken  of  as  vowels,  and  the  other  letters  of  the 
alphabet  as  consonants.  Now  consider  the  word  oc- 
cur and  the  suffix  ed.     Note  four  things  about  them : 

1.  Occur  is  accented  on  the  final  syllable. 

2.  It  ends  in  a  single  consonant. 

3.  This  single  consonant  is  preceded  by  a  single  vowel. 

4.  The  suffix  begins  with  a  vowel. 

Under  these  circumstances,  when  you  add  ed  to 
occur  you  must  double  the  final  consonant  r,  and 
the  word  is  spelled  occurred.  Also,  since  ing  begins 
with  a  vowel,  when  you  add  this  suffix  you  write 
the  word  occurring.  And  since  ence  also  begins 
with  a  vowel,  when  you  add  this  suffix  to  occur  the 
word  must  be  written  occurrence. 

The  rule  applies  to  words  of  one  syllable.  Thus, 
from  rob  are  formed  robbed  and  robbing;  and  from 
fan  are  formed  fanning  and  fanned. 

There  are  a  few  exceptions  to  the  rule,  such  as 
taxed,  taxing,  gaseous,  gaseity,  gasify,  inferable, 
transferable,  and  chagrined.  Words  containing  qu 
are  not  exceptions,  since  qu  equals  qw;  thus,  acquitted. 
If  the  accent  of  the  word  is  thrown  back  when  the 
suffix  is  added,  as  the  accent  of  infer  is  thrown  back 
when  ence  is  added,  making  in'ference,  the  rule  does 
not  apply. 

An  exercise  for  study  follows.    The  rule  applies  to 


COMPOSITIONS  BY  PUPILS 


57 


some  of  the  words  because  they  are  Hke  occur  in 
the  four  particulars  mentioned.  There  are  other 
words  that  do  not  come  under  the  rule  because  in 
one  or  more  of  the  four  particulars  the  word  is  not 
like  occur.  Thus,  redeem  does  not  come  under  the 
rule,  because  the  final  consonant  is  preceded  by  two 
vowels,  and  the  consonant  is  therefore  not  doubled 
in  redeemed.  Write  each  word  with  the  suffixes 
given,  doubling  the  final  consonant  or  not  according 
to  whether  the  rule  applies  or  not. 


WORD 

SUFFIXES 

WORD 

SUFFIXES 

prefer 

ed,  ing, 

ence,  able 

abet 

ed,  ing,  or 

confer 

ed,  ing, 

ence 

squat 

ed,  ing,  er 

travel 

ed,  ing, 

er 

squab 

ish 

begin 

ing 

spurn 

ed,  ing 

sin 

ed,  ing 

heat 

ed,  ing 

infer 

ed,  ing. 

ence 

quit 

ed,  ing 

enter 

ed,  ing 

din 

ed,  ing 

acquit 

ed,  ing 

pilfer 

ed,  ing 

plan 

ed,  ing 

transfer 

ed,  ing,  able 

hot 

er,  est 

run 

ing 

wit 

y 

gun 

ing 

get 

ing 

forget 

ing 

This  is  a  very  useful  rule  if  you  master  it  thor- 
oughly, and  if  you  use  it  when  you  are  writing. 


Every  Pupil's  Own  Spelling  Book 

59.  Different  persons  misspell  different  words. 
One  person  may  find  it  difficult  to  spell  separate, 
while  another  may  find  it  difficult  to  spell  occurred 
or  privilege.     Write  down  in  some  special  place  the 


58  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

correct  spelling  of  the  -words  that  you  habitually 
misspell,  and  study  the  list  occasionally.  This  is 
the  best  way  to  improve  your  spelling.  Try  it. 
Make  a  little  book  of  your  own  for  this  purpose,  and 
letter  your  name  on  it. 

OUTLINE  FOR  AN   ORAL  COMPOSITION 

60.  Every  composition  that  is  easily  understood 
when  it  is  spoken  or  written  is  made  on  a  definite 
plan.  Such  a  plan,  whether  written  or  not,  is  called 
an  outline.  Let  us  try  to  make  an  outline  on  some 
easy  subject,  for  example,  ''An  Old  Farm  I  Know." 
It  is  plain  that  at  the  very  beginning  we  should  try 
to  say  something  of  interest  so  that  those  who 
listen  to  the  speaker,  and  those  who  read  when  the 
composition  is  written,  may  be  interested  at  once. 
One  thing  that  is  likely  to  be  of  interest  is  how  the 
farm  was  first  seen  by  the  speaker  or  the  writer.  Then 
should  follow  a  description  of  the  farm  and  the  expe- 
riences the  speaker  or  writer  had  there,  all  given  in 
logical  order.     The  following  will  illustrate: 

An  Old  Farm  I  Know 

1.  How  I  first  saw  the  farm. 

a.  Our  decision  to  spend  our  summer  vacation  there. 

b.  Our  tiresome  ride  on  the  train. 

c.  The  ride  from  the  railroad  station. 

d.  First  view  of  the  farm;  its  restful  look. 

2.  The  first  night. 

a.  Greeting  of  the  farmer's  wife  and  children. 

b.  Putting  the  horses  in  the  stable. 


OUTLINE   FOR  AN  ORAL   COMPOSITION  59 

c.  Supper ;  how  it  was  different  from  suppers  at  home. 

d.  A  good  night's  rest;  lulled  to  sleep  by  crickets. 

3.  Morning. 

a.  The  momentary  surprise  at   the   strange   sur- 
roundings on  awakening. 
h.  A  hurried  dressing,  and  a  wash  at  the  pump. 
c.  Breakfast. 

4.  Explorations. 

a.  Description  of  the  house  and  immediate  sur- 
roundings. 
,    h.  The  barns,  corn  cribs,  and  chicken  houses. 
c.  The  fields — what  kind  of  crops  planted;  rivers 
or  creeks,  hills,  woods;  animals — horses,  cows, 
pigs,  chickens. 

5.  Fun  on  the  farm. 

a.  Feeding  the  horses;  riding  horseback. 
h.  Going  for  the  cows. 

c.  Gathering  eggs. 

d.  Picking  berries. 

e.  Swimming. 

/.   Setting  traps  for  rabbits. 
g.  Games. 

6.  Departure. 

a.  Vacation  time  over;  looking  forward  to  school 

again. 

b.  Regrets  at  leaving. 

c.  Good-by. 

d.  Home  again. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  more  than  one  of  you 
have  had  a  vacation  very  much  like  that  indicated 
in  this  outline.  If  so,  some  one  will  stand  before  the 
class  and  tell  about  the  farm  and  his  experiences 
there,  using  the  outline  for  a  guide. 


6o  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Whoever  does  this  will  probably  make  one  bad 
mistake — he  will  not  tell  you  enough.  In  that 
case,  the  class  should  tell  him  what  else  he  might 
have  said.  He  will  then  realize  that  each  little 
title  in  the  outline  was  merely  a  suggestion.  He 
will  know,  for  example,  that  he  might  have  told 
more  of  what  part  the  farmer's  children  took  in  all 
that  he  did,  more  of  what  part  the  farmer  and  the 
farmer's  wife  and  his  own  parents  and  brothers  and 
sisters  took  in  all  that  he  did,  and  more  of  what  he 
himself  thought  and  felt  throughout  his  whole  expe- 
rience on  the  farm.  When  the  speaker  has  been 
instructed  on  these  matters  he  should  be  allowed  to 
give  the  same  speech  again,  or  some  one  else  should 
speak  from  the  same  outline. 

If  no  one  can  speak  from  the  outline  as  it  stands, 
some  person  in  the  class  will  revise  it  for  his  own 
use  by  striking  out  some  titles  and  adding  others, 
and  will  be  ready  the  next  day.  The  revised  outline 
should  then  be  written  on  the  blackboard,  and  the 
pupil  who  revised  it  will  speak  from  it. 

If  it  should  happen  that  no  one  in  the  class 
has  had  such  an  experience  as  that  outlined,  which 
is  pretty  sure  to  be  the  case  if  your  school  is  in  the 
country  or  in  a  small  town,  perhaps  some  one  has 
had  the  very  reverse  experience — that  of  making  a 
visit  to  a  big  city.  If  so,  help  him  make  an  outline 
on  the  blackboard,  and  give  him  your  careful  atten- 
tion when  he  speaks  from  the  outHne.  Don't  be  in 
a  hurry  about  this  work;  take  several  days  for  it. 

With  this  experience  as  a  guide,  each  member  of 


OUTLINE   FOR   AN  ORAL  COMPOSITION  6i 

the  class  will  make  an  outline  and  speak  from  it. 
Some  possible  subjects  are  given  below;  but  it  will 
be  better  for  each  to  select  his  own  subject. 

Some  Subjects  Suggested 

6i.  The  following  list  may  help  you  to  choose 
subjects  of  your  own: 

My  First  Railroad  Journey 

My  First  Ride  in  a  Boat 

The  First  Christmas  I  Remember 

My  First  Party 

My  Experience  in  the  Country 

My  Experience  in  the  City 

My  Visit  to  a  Factory 

My  Experience  with  Horses 

How  I  Was  Broken  of  a  Bad  Habit 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

62.  The  class  should  talk  over  each  speech,  using 
questions  like  the  following: 

a.  Was  the  speech  interesting?     What  part  did  you 

like  best? 
h.  If  it  was  not  interesting,  what  could  have  made  it  so? 

c.  Was  it  well  arranged? 

d.  Did  the  speaker  make  any  mistakes  in  his  English? 

e.  Did  he  string  his  sentences  together  with  and-uh, 

then-uh,  and  similar  connectives? 
/.  Did  he  stand  out  boldly  before  the  class,  without 

leaning  on  a  desk? 
g.  Did  he  speak  loud  enough   to   be   heard   all   over 

the  room? 
h.  Did  he  pronounce  his  words  correctly? 


62  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

i.   Should  you  like  to  have  him  speak  aj^ain  on  another 
subject  ? 

CORRECT  PREDICATES  AND   SUBJECTS 

63.  It  is  quite  likely  that  you  have  heard  people 
use  such  sentences  as  Him  and  me  are  good  friends, 
or  Him  and  I  are  good  friends;  and  it  is  important 
that  you  know  why  they  are  wrong.  The  reason  is 
that  he  and  I  are  the  correct  forms  of  these  words 
when  they  are  subjects.  Therefore  the  compound 
subject  of  the  first  sentence  is  wrong,  and  half  of 
the  compound  subject  of  the  second  sentence  is 
wrong.  Don't  think,  however,  that  it  is  never 
correct  to  say  him  and  me  and  her  and  me;  these 
forms  are  correct  in  their  proper  place,  and  will  be 
explained  later.  The  sentences  given  below  illus- 
trate the  correct  forms  of  these  words  and  some 
others  when  they  are  subjects. 

He  and  I  arc  good  friends. 
She  and  I  are  good  friends. 
We  and  they  are  good  friends. 
It  is  I. 
It  is  he. 
It  is  she. 
\  It  is  we. 

It  is  they. 

Some  students  of  language  assert  that  the 
expression  It  is  me  is  gradually  being  recognized 
as  good  English.  Nevertheless  you  are  advised  to 
say  It  is  I;  this  is  the  established  form. 

You  must  be  careful  to  use  the  forms  given  above 


CORRECT  PREDICATES  AND   SUBJECTS  6^ 

when  they  arc  parts  of  longer  sentences,  as  in  the 
following : 

It  was  I  who  gave  you  the  book. 

It  was  she  who  came  with  us. 

It  was  they  who  befriended  me. 

Some  people  carelessly  use  you  as  the  subject  of 
was,  as  in  You  was  here  and  Was  you  here?  The 
correct  forms  are 

You  were  here. 

Were  you  here  ? 

There  are  certain  words  that  give  the  idea  of  a 
whole  body  of  people  or  things,  such  as  committee, 
class,  jury,  and  crowd.  Perhaps  you  are  sometimes 
puzzled  about  such  words,  not  knowing  whether 
to  use  is  or  are  with  them.  It  is  correct  to  use 
is  and  has  and  other  verbs  in  the  singular;  but 
if  you  are  thinking  of  the  individuals  of  the  class 
or  of  the  crowd  separately,  then  it  is  proper  to  use 
are  and  have  and  other  verbs  in  the  plural.  The 
following  sentences  will  illustrate: 

The  committee  is  adopting  the  resolutions. 

The  committee  has  adjourned. 

The  crowd  has  gone  away. 

The  crowd  are  taking  off  their  hats. 

The  class  enjoys  the  work. 

All  the  class  have  spoken. 

It  is  incorrect  to  say  He  don't  or  She  don't.  Don't 
is  a  contraction  of  do  not;  surely  no  one  would  say 
He  do  not  or  She  do^  not.     The  correct  forms  are 

He  does  n't. 
She  does  n't. 


64  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Ain't  is  a,  contraction  of  am  not;  no  one  would  say 
He  am  not;  how  absurd,  then,  to  say  He  aint! 
Even  when  its  subject  is  I,  ain't  is  a  vulgarism,  and 
should  never  be  used. 

Very  ignorant  or  very  careless  persons  use  such 
expressions  as  He  aint  here,  I  seen  him,  He  done  it, 
and  /  have  went.     The  correct  sentences  are 

He  is  n't  here.  He  did  it. 

I  saw  him.  I  have  gone. 

Another  error  is  hadn't  ought  for  ought  not  or 
should  not.  Correct  use  of  these  words  appears 
in  the  following  sentences: 

He  ought  not  to  play  so  roughly. 

They  ought  not  to  be  tardy  so  often. 

She  ought  not  to  talk  in  such  a  low  tone. 

We  should  not  tease  them. 

Both  ought  and  should  express  the  idea  of  duty, 
but  ought  expresses  it  more  strongly  than  should. 

These  are  the  most  common  errors  in  the  use  of 
predicates  and  subjects.  If  you  use  any  of  them, 
correct  yourselves  at  once,  and  don't  be  content 
until  you  have  made  the  right  forms  a  habit. 

64.  Write  on  the  blackboard  sentences  containing 
He  and  7,  She  and  J,  //  is  /,  It  is  he,  It  is  she,  You 
were,  Were  you,  He  doesn't.  She  doesn't,  They  don't, 
I  am  not.  He  is  not. 

GRAMMAR  EXERCISE 

65.  In  many  places  in  this  book  you  have  found 
explanations  of  incorrect  grammar  and  have  been 
advised  to  avoid  it.     Do  you  avoid  it  ?     Or  are  you 


SPEAKING   FROM  AN  OUTLINE  65 

usually  so  much  interested  in  what  you  are  saying 
that  it  is  difficult  to  pay  attention  to  how  you  are 
saying  it  ?  As  this  is  probably  the  case  some  of  the 
time,  it  will  be  a  good  thing  to  have  an  exercise  once 
in  a  while  in  which  you  pay  more  attention  to  how 
you  express  yourselves  than  to  what  you  say. 

First,  have  a  quick  review  of  sections  44,  49,  and  63. 

Next,  let  some  one  of  your  number  tell  you  a 
story.  It  may  be  some  experience  of  his  own,  or 
something  he  has  read  or  heard.  It  may  even  be 
something  he  has  used  before  either  as  a  spoken 
or  a  written  exercise.  As  he  speaks,  notice  all  the 
mistakes  he  makes  in  grammar,  all  the  words  he 
mispronounces,  and  all  the  words  he  misuses.  After 
he  has  sat  down  tell  him  all  the  errors  he  has  made, 
and  some  one  else  will  tell  you  a  story,  so  that  you 
may  tell  him  also  all  the  mistakes  he  makes.  This 
is  a  good  exercise  to  come  back  to  occasionally. 
Every  one  in  the  class  should  have  the  experience 
of  being  thus  criticized  from  time  to  time.  It  will 
make  you  all  more  careful. 

SPEAKING  FROM  AN   OUTLINE 

66.  Choose  one  of  the  following  subjects  for 
composition,  or,  if  you  like,  select  a  subject  of  your 
own,  and  make  an  outline  for  another  experience 
in  speaking. 

My  Own  Home 

My  First  Year  at  School 

My  Summer  in  a  Garden 

Fun  in  the  Parks 


66  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

The  Best  Books  I  Have  Read 
Dogs  I  Have  Owned 
Our  Window  Decorations 
Spring  Plowing  and  Sowing 
Going  to  Town  on  Saturdays 
Circus  Days 
Newspapers  I  Read 
Dolls  I  've  Loved  and  Lost 

When  you  have  finished,  one  of  you  will  write 
his  outline  on  the  blackboard  and  speak  from  it. 
It  need  not  be  a  very  long  outline,  but  the  speaker 
must  say  enough  about  each  topic.  This  is  a  good 
exercise  to  keep  up  for  several  days,  until  all  in  the 
class  have  spoken.  After  each  speech  the  class 
should  offer  criticism  according  to  the  suggestions 
in  the  next  section. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

67.  Answer  the  following  questions: 

a.  Is  the  outline  in  good  order? 

b.  Did  the  speaker  tell  all  you  would  like  to  know  about 

his  subject? 

c.  Did  he  make  any  such  errors  in  English  as  the  use 

of  ain't,  he  don't,  It  is  me,  or  Him  and  me  did  so 
and  so  f 

d.  Did  he  string  his  sentences  together  with  and-iih, 

but-uh,  and  so-uh  f 

e.  Did  he  speak  distinctly,  so  that  those  in  the  back 

part  of  the  room  could  hear  easily  ? 
/.   Did  he  stand  up  boldly  before  the  class,  or  did  he 

le^n  on  a  desk? 
g.  Can  you  give  him  any  hints  that  will  help  him  to  do 

better  next  time? 


OBJECTS  67 

OBJECTS 

68.  Read  the  following  sentences: 

1.  "The  dolphins  and  the  whales  waged  a  fierce  war- 
fare with  each  other." 

2.  **A  boy  stole  a  lesson  book  from  one  of  his  school 
fellows." 

3.  "A  fisherman,  engaged  in  his  calling,  made  a  very- 
successful  cast,  and  captured  a  great  haul  of  fish." 

4.  "But  he  too  had  a  Cricket  on  his  Hearth." 

5.  "Thackleton  had  brought  his  leg  of  mutton." 

6.  "For  this  purpose,  he  had  led  Httle  Marygold  into 
the  garden." 

The  verbs  in  the  sentences  above  express  action. 
At  some  place  after  each  one  of  these  verbs  is  a  word 
that  tells  what  the  action  falls  on,  or  what  receives 
the  action.  Thus  the  first  sentence  would  not  be 
complete  if  you  should  say,  "The  dolphins  and  the 
whales  waged."  It  is  necessary  to  say  that  they 
waged  ''warfare."  This  word  and  words  used  in 
this  way  are  called  objects.  The  object,  then,  is  a 
word  upon  which  the  action  of  the  verb  falls;  in 
other  words,  the  object  is  the  receiver  of  the  action. 

Two  cautions  are  necessary.  First,  all  verbs  that 
have  objects  are  action  verbs,  like  waged,  saw,  built; 
or  indicate  possession,  like  have  and  had.  Such  verbs 
as  am,  is,  are,  and  seems  express  being,  not  action,  as 
in  I  am  angry.  She  is  kind.  They  are  good  people,  and 
He  seems  ill,  and  cannot  have  objects.  Second,  all 
action  verbs  do  not  have  objects;  for  example,  such 
verbs  as  go  and  come  express  action,  but  they  can- 
not have  objects. 

Objects  are  usually  nouns  or  pronouns. 


68  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

TRANSITIVE  AND  INTRANSITIVE  VERBS 

69.  You  learned  in  the  preceding  section  that 
some  action  verbs,  Hke  go  and  come,  cannot  have 
objects.  It  is  possible  to  wage  warfare,  or  to  see  a 
ship  or  to  build  a  house;  but  it  is  not  possible  to  go 
anything  or  to  come  anything.  These  latter  verbs 
do  not  express  the  kind  of  action  that  falls  upon  or 
can  be  received  by  objects  named  by  other  words. 
Verbs  that  have  objects  are  called  transitive  verbs. 
Verbs  that  express  action  but  cannot  have  objects 
are  called  intransitive  verbs.  The  verbs  in  the 
following  sentences  are  intransitive:  The  organ 
grinder  has  gone.  Summer  will  come  again.  The 
rain  went  away.     The  children  are  running. 

Some  verbs  are  sometimes  transitive  and  some- 
times intransitive.  Read  is  such  a  verb.  You  may 
say  Mother  is  reading,  and  you  may  say  Mother 
is  reading  the  morning  paper.  The  first  sentence 
is  complete,  yet  "is  reading"  has  no  object  and  is 
therefore  intransitive.  In  the  second  sentence  "is 
reading"  has  an  object  and  is  therefore  transitive. 
There  are  many  such  verbs. 

70.  You  should  now  understand  very  well  what 
objects  are  and  be  able  to  recognize  them  in  sentences. 
Go  back  to  section  68  and  determine  the  objects. 
One  of  the  sentences  has  two  verbs,  each  of  which 
has  an  object.     Which  one  is  it? 

Write  some  sentences  containing  objects. 

Write  some  sentences  containing  the  verbs  run, 
sweepy  read,  call,  play,  and  grow,  and  notice  that 
they  are  transitive  or  intransitive,   that  is,   that 


COMPOUND  OBJECTS  69 

they  have  objects  or  not,  according  to  the  way 
you  use  them.  Remember,  too,  that  each  of  the 
verbs  has  several  forms,  any  of  which  you  may  use. 
Thus  run  has  the  following  forms :  run,  to  run,  ran, 
has  run,  is  running,  has  been  running,  and  others. 

MODIFIERS 

71.  Objects,  like  verbs  and  subjects,  may  have 
modifiers.  Hence  there  are  complete  objects  and 
object  substantives.  Thus  in  the  first  sentence  in 
section  68  the  words  "a  fierce"  modify  the  object 
** warfare."  "Warfare"  is  the  object  substantive, 
and  "a  fierce  warfare"  is  the  complete  object. 

Notice  the  words  "with  each  other."  When 
you  read  the  sentence,  do  you  associate  these  words 
with  * '  warfare"  or  with  * '  waged"  ?  That  is,  does  this 
little  group  of  words  modify  the  object  or  the  verb  ? 

72.  Write  a  short  composition,  or  study  one  you 
have  written  before,  and  determine  whether  any  of 
the  verbs  have  objects.  Also,  distinguish  between 
complete  objects  and  object  substantives. 

After  you  have  each  studied  a  composition  of  your 
own  in  this  way,  some  one  will  write  his  own  on  the 
blackboard.  As  he  writes,  study  each  sentence ;  and 
when  he  has  finished,  tell  him  what  sentences  have 
objects  in  them  and  what  sentences  have  not.  Dis- 
tinguish between  complete  objects  and  object  sub- 
stantives. 

COMPOUND   OBJECTS 

73.  Objects,  like  verbs  and  subjects,  may  be 
compound.     If  there  are  three  or   more,  they  are 


70  .1    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

said  to  be  in  series,  and  commas  are  used  between 
them. 

What  are  the  compound  objects  in  the  following 
sentences,  and  what  are  their  modifiers?  That  is, 
what  are  the  object  substantives  and  what  are  the 
complete  objects?  Also,  what  connective  words 
join  the  objects? 

1.  "This  man  has  a  daughter  and  two  sons." 

2.  "From  this  mountain  top  one  sees  rivers,  forests, 
and  towns." 

3.  "Here  you  behold  not  a  traitor,  but  a  hero." 

4.  "She  has  neither  father  nor  mother." 

5.  "He  wore  a  linen  blouse,  a  cloth  cap,  and  a  pair  of 
green  spectacles." 

6.  "I  shall  never  repeat  a  conversation,  but  an  idea 
often." 

7.  "A  hare  once  ridiculed  the  short  legs  and  slow  pace 
of  the  tortoise." 

8.  "Poor  Tom;  that  eats  the  swimming  frog,  the  toad, 
the  tadpole,  the  wall-newt,  and  the  water." 

9.  "Wine  loved  I  deeply,  dice  dearly." 

74.  Write  on  the  blackboard  some  sentences 
containing  compound  objects.  Be  sure  to  punctuate 
correctly. 

GROUP  OBJECTS 

75.  Read  the  following  sentences  carefully: 

1.  "I  know  that  she  will  not  cease  from  grief  and  weep- 
ing until  she  sees  me." 

2.  "They  promised  that  they  would  carry  me  to  dis- 
tant Ithaca." 

3.  "A  stag  asked  a  sheep  to  lend  him  a  measure  of 
wheat," 


GROUP   OBJECTS  71 

4.  "  'Sit  down,  then,  on  this  stone,  and  recover  your 
breath,'  said  Quentin." 

5.  "The  fallen  man  continued  to  exclaim,  'I  am  stifled 
here,  in  mine  own  armor.'  " 

6.  "I  advise  you  to  tell  us  a  story  here."  . 

7.  "A  crab  said  to  her  son,  'Why  do  you  walk  so  one- 
sided, my  child?'  " 

In  section  68  you  saw  that  an  object  might  be  one 
word.  In  section  73  you  saw  that  an  object  might 
be  two  or  more  words  either  joined  by  a  connective, 
like  and,  or  separated  by  commas,  or  both.  Con- 
sider again  the  first  sentence  in  section  68.  The 
simple  object  is  "warfare";  that  is,  you  can  think 
of  the  one  word  ''warfare"  and  its  modifiers  sep- 
arately. But  in  the  first  of  the  sentences  given  as 
examples  in  this  section  you  can  do  nothing  of  the 
sort.  The  verb  is  ''know";  the  subject  is  "I."  As 
"know"  is  an  action  verb,  you  know  that  perhaps 
it  may  have  an  object.  If  you  ask  yourselves. 
What  receives  the  action  f  you  get  as  answer,  not  one 
word,  or  two  words  joined  by  a  connective,  for  it 
is  plain  that  "I"  did  not  "know"  "that,"  or  "she," 
or  an  idea  expressed  by  any  other  one  word  among 
those  that  follow.  You  get  as  answer,  rather,  the 
whole  group  of  words,  ' '  that  she  will  not  cease  from 
grief  and  weeping  until  she  sees  me."  This  group 
of  words  is  the  object,  and  for  the  present  it  is 
called  a  group  object. 

Group  objects  have  no  modifiers,  although  they 
usually  are  composed  of  parts  that  have  modifiers. 

Determine  what  the  group  objects  are  in  the  other 
example  sentences  in  this  section. 


72  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

When  do  group  objects  have  quotation  marks 
about  them?  When  do  they  have  commas  before 
them,  and  when  not? 

In  three  of  the  example  sentences  both  quotation 
marks  and  half-quotation  marks  are  used.     Why  ? 

76.  Write  sentences  containing  group  objects;  or, 
study  an  old  composition  to  see  if  it  has  any  group 
objects.  Some  of  these  objects  probably  begin 
with  that;  others  may  be  preceded  or  followed  by 
such  words  as  said,  remarked,  asked,  or  exclaimed; 
others  may  begin  with  the  name  of  some  person  or 
thing,  or  words  like  him  and  her  and  them,  which 
will  be  followed  by  to  and  a  verb,  as  in  the  third 
example  sentence  in  section  75. 

SOME  DIFFICULT  WORDS 

77.  It  is  altogether  likely  that  some  of  the  speakers 
had  occasion  to  use  the  words  lie,  lay,  sit,  set,  leave, 
and  let;  and  if  they  did  it  is  likely  that  some  of  the 
words  were  misused.  Lie  means  to  recline,  while 
lay  means  to  place  a  thing  in  position.  Sit  means 
to  take  a  sitting  position,  while  set  means  to  cause  to 
sit.  Leave  means  to  go  away  from,  while  let  usually 
means  to  give  permission. 

The  first  four  of  these  words  are  difficult  to  use 
when  they  express  other  than  present  time.  In  the 
following  sentences  tell  why  they  are  correctly  used. 
Present  Time: 

I  lie  on  the  couch. 

He  lies  on  the  couch. 

I  lay  the  plate  on  the  table. 


SOME  DIFFICULT  WORDS  73 

She  lai^s  the  plate  on  the  table. 

I  sit  in  the  big  chair. 

He  sits  in  the  big  chair. 

The  hen  sits  on  the  eggs. 

I  set  the  plates  on  the  table. 

She  sets  the  plates  on  the  table. 
Past  Time: 

I  lay  on  the  couch  yesterday. 

He  lay  on  the  couch  yesterday. 

I  laid  the  plates  on  the  table  yesterday. 

She  laid  the  plates  on  the  table  yesterday. 

I  sat  in  the  big  chair  yesterday. 

He  sat  in  the  big  chair  yesterday. 

The  hen  sat  on  the  eggs  three  weeks. 

I  set  the  plates  on  the  table  yesterday. 

She  set  the  plates  on  the  table  yesterday. 
Time  Just  Completed  or  Time  Long  Continued: 

I  have  lain  on  the  couch  two  hours. 

He  has  just  lain  down  on  the  couch. 

I  have  often  laid  the  plates  on  the  table. 

She  has  just  laid  the  plates  on  the  table. 

She  has  just  sat  down  in  the  big  chair. 

He  has  frequently  sat  in  the  big  chair. 

She  has  just  set  the  plates  on  the  table. 

They  have  set  the  plates  on  the  table  many  a  time. 

Mother  has  set  three  hens  this  week. 

Howeveri  there  are  cases  of  idioms,  that  is, 
expressions  peculiar  to  a  language,  where  the  defi- 
nitions given  seem  to  be  violated.  For  example,  it 
is  correct  to  say.  The  sun  sets,  and  We  set  out  for 
town  at  ten  o'clock. 

Leave  and  let  are  often  confused.  The  following 
sentences  are  correct: 


74  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

1 .  Leave  me  alone  (go  away) . 

2.  Let  me  alone  (don't  bother  me). 

3.  We  usually  leave  school  at  half-past  three. 

4.  Our  teacher  lets  us  go  home  at  half -past  three. 

5.  We  left  school  at  half -past  three. 

6.  Our  teacher  let  us  leave  school  at  half -past  three. 

7.  We  have  often  left  school  at  half-past  three. 

8.  Our  teacher  has  sometimes  let  us  leave  school  at  three. 

Do  not  use  leave  meaning  to  give  permission. 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the  definition  given  of 
let  applies  in  the  sentence  Let  me  alone,  but  the 
expression  is  idiomatic  and  correct. 

Have  you  discovered  that  some  of  these  words 
are  transitive  and  some  intransitive?  Explain. 
When  you  write  and  speak,  take  great  care  to  use 
these  words  correctly. 

78.  Write  on  the  blackboard  some  sentences 
containing  the  words  lie,  lay,  sit,  set,  leave,  and  let. 
In  each  case  tell  whether  the  verbs  are  transitive  or 
intransitive. 

A  PUPIL'S   COMPOSITION 

79.  As  you  have  already  discovered,  it  is  rather 
difficult  for  you  to  write  a  long  composition.  When 
you  are  talking  to  your  friends  about  the  things 
you  are  interested  in,  you  can  talk  enough,  to  be 
sure.  Even  when  you  speak  from  an  outline,  you 
can  probably  tell  your  experiences  and  your  ideas 
with  some  degree  of  fullness,  especially  if  your 
classmates  ask  you  suggestive  questions.  But  when 
you  attempt  to  put  your  thoughts  on  paper,  the  very 
labor   of   writing  appals  you,   and  your  thoughts 


A    PUPIL'S  COMPOSITION  75 

refuse  to  flow.  As  you  grow  older  and  have  more 
experience  in  writing,  you  will  improve  in  this 
respect.  Doubtless  it  will  help  you  to  read  a  compo- 
sition written  by  a  girl  who  has  treated  her  subject 
rather  fully. 

One  day  when  I  was  about  four  years  old  I  remember 
one  day  I  was  naughty  from  about  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning  till  I  was  put  to  bed.  I  got  up  very  early  and 
ran  out  in  the  sand  pile.  It  was  very  uninteresting,  so 
I  thought  I  would  take  a  walk  as  my  father  often  did 
before  breakfast.  I  walked  about  a  block  till  I  passed 
the  little  store  we  traded  at.  I  remembered  that  when 
I  walked  with  papa  he  always  went  in  and  got  a  news- 
paper, so  I  attempted  to  do  the  same.  I  asked  Mr. 
Storeman  for  a  paper.  It  happened  that  papa  had  got 
one  before  this,  so  the  man  said,  "Did  your  ma  send 
you?"  I  said,  "No,  I  was  just  out  walking  and  thought 
I  would  drop  in."  When  I  was  out  walking  I  saw  Maggie 
hurrying  down  the  street  calling  me.  I  tried  to  run  from 
her,  but  she  caught  mc.  When  we  reached  home  they 
were  eating  breakfast,  and  nothing  was  said  about  my 
little  walk.  I  played  quite  a  while  in  the  sand  pile  and 
was  just  starting  for  a  walk  when  mamma  called  to  come 
and  get  dressed  t^  go  away  with  her.  She  dressed  me 
and  put  my  little  blue  coat  on,  and  told  me  to  sit  on  the 
porch.  I,  however,  saw  the  gardener  cutting  the  grass, 
and  thought  I  would  see  him,  as  he  was  a  great  friend  of 
mine.  He  had  a  little  can  of  something  which  he  squirted 
out  of  a  little  hole  at  the  top,  and  while  he  was  out  in  the 
other  side  of  the  yard  I  experimented  with  it,  thus  spilling 
it  all  over  my  clothes.  When  mamma  came  out,  such  a 
sight  as  she  saw.  My  hair  ribbon  was  hanging  over  my 
ear  and  oil  all  over  my  clothes.     She  said,  "Shame  on 


76  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

you.  Maggie  will  have  to  dress  you  over  because  Miss 
Ludlow  wishes  to  see  you."  This  time  Maggie  dressed 
me  without  mishap,  and  went  down  stairs  to  get  my  silk 
coat.  I  went  to  get  my  doll,  and  saw  the  cake  of  soap 
floating  around  on  the  water  in  the  bathtub.  I  made  a 
dive  to  get  it,  and  fell  headlong  into  the  tub.  When 
Maggie  came  back  I  was  standing  dripping  in  the  middle  of 
the  floor,  with  the  cake  of  soap  in  one  hand.  That  was 
the  last  straw,  and  you  may  be  sure  I  got  what  I  deserved. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 
80.  As  usual  after  reading  a  composition  written 
by   a  pupil,    we  must   consider  it   very   carefully. 
Discuss  it  with  the  following  points  as  guides: 

a.  Contrast  it  with  the  composition  about  the  swim- 

ming race  in  section  29,  and  note  how  much  more 
interesting  it  is  than  that.     Why? 

b.  This    composition   has   the   quality    called   humor. 

Do   you   know   what    humor   is? 

c.  The  writer  told  something  about  her  own  life.     Do 

you  think  she  was  able  to  treat  her  subject  so 
fully  because  she  chose  to  write  about  herself 
rather  than  about  some  one  else? 

d.  Can  you  make  a  title  for  the  composition? 

e.  Just  as  a  sentence  must  be  a  complete  thing,  so  also 

must  a  composition  be  a  complete  thing.  The 
writer  of  this  one  has  succeeded  very  well  in  this 
respect.  The  first  sentence  tells  you  at  once 
what  she  is  going  to  write  about,  and  the  last 
sentence  lets  you  know  that  she  has  finished. 
Between  the  first  and  the  last  sentence  she  has 
told  you  all,  or  nearly  all,  that  you  would  like  to 
know  about  that  one  day  in  her  life.  Are  your 
own  compositions  always  so  well  finished? 


A   SPELLING  LESSON  77 

/.  The  whole  story  is  written  in  one  paragraph.  Can 
you  find  any  places  where  new  paragraphs  might 
have  been  begun?  Could  the  writer,  by  changing 
the  wording  of  a  sentence  here  and  there,  have 
made  two  or  three  distinct  paragraphs  of  the  story  ? 

g.  Reread  the  first  sentence  carefully.  Do  you  notice 
that  one  little  group  of  words  is  used  twice?  The 
effect  is  certainly  bad.  Can  you  take  out  one  of 
the  repeated  groups  of  words  and  thereby  improve 
the  sound  of  the  sentence  without  changing  the 
meaning  ? 

h.  There  are  two  sentences  in  the  story  that  should  have 
been  ended  with  exclamation  points,  but  the  writer 
used  periods  instead.     Which  sentences  are  they? 

Exercise  in  Grammar 

8i.  Now  let  us  study  this  story  in  another  way. 
Many  of  the  sentences  have  objects,  some  of  them 
being  group  objects.  Go  through  the  composition, 
sentence  by  sentence,  and  pick  out  the  objects. 
Watch  carefully  for  the  following  errors: 

a.  In  one  sentence  the  writer  omitted  the  object. 

b.  In  another  sentence  she  omitted  the  predicate  verb. 

These  mistakes  were  made  by  accident,  of  course. 
Perhaps  you  will  be  less  liable  to  such  accidents  if 
you  find  where  this  writer  blundered. 

A  SPELLING  LESSON 

82.  One  of  your  difficulties  in  spelling  is  probably 
in  adding  5  to  words  that  end  in  y.  There  are  two 
kinds  of  these  words.  One  kind  has  a  consonant 
before  the  y,  as  cry;  and  in  this  case  you  should 


7S  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

change  the  y  to  i  and  ^ add  cs,  making  cries.  The 
other  kind  has  a  vowel  before  the  y;  and  in  this 
case  the  s  is  added  without  any  other  change,  as  in 
the  case  of  monkey  and  monkeys. 

Another  difficulty  is  in  adding  ness  to  words,  as 
in  the  case  of  stubbornness.  This  word  simply  is 
stubborn  +  ness;  nothing  could  be  simpler;  there  is 
no  change  either  in  stubborn  or  in  ness  when  the  two 
are  put  together.  The  same  is  true  when  ly  is  added 
to  such  words  as  beautiful,  making  beautifully. 

Add  s  to  the  following  words,  following  the  rule 
carefully : 

try  pry  spy 

valley  attorney  key 

lady  hurry  study 

alloy  baby  army 

day  pity  money 

Add  ness  to  the  following  words: 


mean 

green 

Add  ly  to  the  following  words: 

merciful 

plentiful 

grateful 

sinful 

GROUP 

WORK 

83.  Sometimes  when  you  have  failed  to  bring  a 
sentence  to  an  end  by  the  use  of  the  proper  punctua- 
tion mark,  or  when  you  have  misspelled  a  word, 
your  teacher  tells  you  that  you  knew  better,  and 
asks  you  why  you  did  it.  You  probably  reply  that 
you  forgot,  or  that  you  don't  know.  The  truth 
is  that  you  are  sometimes  careless;  you  think  so 


GROUP   WORK  79 

intently  about  what  you  are  writing  that  you  fail 
to  be  attentive  to  how  you  are  writing  it.  Now,  it  is 
as  necessary  to  write  accurately  as  it  is  to  have 
something  worth  saying;  and  the  pupil  who  is  care- 
less about  his  sentence  structure,  his  punctuation, 
and  his  spelling  cannot  write  an  acceptable  letter  or 
composition.  Some  of  your  work  in  school  should 
therefore  be  planned  to  make  you  careful,  so  that 
when  you  leave  school  you  will  have  formed  the  habit 
of  writing  precisely  what  you  mean  and  of  taking  great 
care  in  all  the  details  of  composition. 

In  order  to  form  such  a  habit  you  will  frequently 
work  in  groups.  A  liberal  space  at  the  blackboard 
will  be  assigned  to  each  of  several  pupils,  and  a  sub- 
ject given  to  each,  probably  one  of  those  that  follow 
in  section  85.  For  each  pupil  who  writes,  there  will 
be  two  or  three  others  who  are  to  be  critics.  The 
critics  will  sit  near  the  writers,  and  give  them  all 
the  help  needed.  If  a  writer  misspells  a  word,  the 
critics  should  call  his  attention  to  it  and  have  him 
correct  it  at  once.  If  he. does  not  end  a  sentence 
and  begin  a  new  one  when  he  should,  they  should 
request  him  to  do  so.  If  he  writes  a  sentence  that 
does  not  sound  well,  they  should  show  him  why,  and 
ask  him  to  rewrite  it.  If  the  critics  think  the 
writer  is  not  writing  just  what  he  intends  to  write, 
they  should  ask  him  to  explain  what  he  means,  and 
then  ask  him  to  make  his  writing  more  clear,  if 
that  is  possible. 

84.  You  will  observe  that  this  exercise  will  compel 
the  writer  to  be  very  careful.     He  will  probably  not 


8o  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

write  so  much  as  if  he  worked  alone ;  but  if  you  let 
him  write  to  the  end  and  then  tell  him  what  his 
mistakes  are,  he  will  be  likely  to  make  the  very 
same  mistakes  the  next  time  he  writes.  After  a 
few  months  or  a  year  of  this  sort  of  experience,  he 
will  be  able  to  write  more  and  better  than  when  he 
began;  that  is,  each  one  of  the  group  will  gradually 
acquire  some  of  the  power  of  the  whole  group. 

This  group  work  should  be  carried  on  in  a  spirit 
of  helpfulness.  The  critics  should  not  find  fault  for 
the  pleasure  of  finding  fault,  but  should  endeavor 
to  give  the  writer  just  the  aid  he  needs.  You 
will  be  just  as  free  to  talk  as  you  would  if  you  were 
working  in  a  laboratory,  or  a  manual-training  room, 
or  a  domestic-science  room. 

It  is  desirable  that  all  the  pupils  work  at  the 
same  time  either  as  writers  or  critics.  If  there  is 
not  enough  blackboard  space  for  this,  those  who  are 
neither  critics  nor  writers  at  the  blackboard  should 
write  at  their  desks.  As  the  months  go  by,  every 
one  will  have,  as  often  as  possible,  this  experience  of 
writing  with  help  from  others. 

Some  subjects  for  compositions  are  given  in  the 
next  section. 

Some   Subjects   for  Group-work   Compositions 

85.  Your  own  experiences  are  always  of  interest 
to  you,  and  are  likely  to  be  of  interest  to  others  if 
you  tell  them  well.  This  involves  telling  what  you 
did  and  what  you  thought  and  what  you  felt; 
perhaps,  also,  what  the  other  persons  of  the  narrative 


GROUP   WORK  8 1 

did  and  thought  and  felt.     Keep  these  things  in 
mind  as  you  write. 

In  all  likelihood  you  will  not  finish  what  you 
begin,  but  that  will  make  little  difference ;  the  imme- 
diate purpose  of  this  kind  of  work  is  to  make  you 
take  great  care  in  grammar,  punctuation,  spelling, 
and  exact  expression.  If  you  do  a  little  very  well, 
that  little  will  be  acceptable. 

Choose,  therefore,  some  subject  that  you  can 
treat  briefly.  Perhaps  one  of  the  following  will 
suggest  something  to  you: 

My  Experiences  as  a  Runaway 

How  I  Dug  a  Hole  through  to  China 

My  Explorations  in  an  Attic 

My  Discoveries  in  a  Country  Bam 

How  We  Played  Indian 

A  Great  Battle  in  the  Snow 

My  Earliest  Ambitions 

A  Punishment  I  Deserved 

My  Experience  with  a  Pot  of  Paint 

How  I  Was  the  Victim  of  a  Joke 

Strange  Things  I  Used  to  Think 

Practicing  on  Saturday 

The  Pleasures  of  Housework 

Dressing  up  in  Mother's  Clothes 

Two  Exercises  in  Criticism 

86.  If  it  is  not  possible  to  do  the  group  work  and  to 
criticize,  as  a  class,  on  the  same  day,  preserve  until 
the  next  day  at  least  one  of  the  compositions  that 
have  been  written  on  the  blackboard.  The  person 
who  wrote  the  composition,  or   each  composition 


82  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

preserved,  will  be  asked  to  read  aloud  what  he 
wrote,  to  give  an  account  of  the  criticisms  that  were 
offered  by  his  critics,  and  to  state  whether  or  not 
he  accepted  their  judgment,  and  why. 

If  compositions  were  written  at  the  seats  while  the 
group  work  was  going  on,  the  pupils  who  wrote  them 
will  now  exchange  papers,  read  them  carefully, 
and  then  have  conferences  in  which  every  pupil 
gives  a  criticism  on  some  one  else's  work  and  receives 
criticism  on  his  own.  Particular  attention "  should 
be  given  to  the  kind  of  errors  made  by  the  pupil  or 
pupils  who  wrote  at  the  blackboard.  And  always 
you  should  use  all  the  knowledge  you  have  to  make 
clear  to  one  another  what  is  good  and  what  is  bad  in 
the  compositions. 

Exercise  in  Grammar 

87.  If  it  is  possible,  leave  one  of  the  themes  on  the 
blackboard  until  it  can  be  used  as  a  basis  for  a 
grammar  exercise.  If  this  is  not  possible,  one  of 
you  will  copy  on  the  blackboard  one  of  your  own 
compositions — it  makes  no  difference  what  one. 
Then  take  it  up,  sentence  by  sentence,  and 
determine 

a.  What  the  complete  predicates  are. 

b.  What  the  predicate  verbs  are. 

c.  What  the  complete  subjects  are. 

d.  What  the  subject  substantives  are. 

e.  What  the  complete  objects  are. 

/.  What  the  object  substantives  are. 
g.  Whether  the  writer  has  run  on  from  one  sentence 
to'  another  without  ending  the  one  with  the  proper 


SOME  DIFFICULT  WORDS  85 

punctuation  mark  and  beginning  the  other  with 
a  capital. 

Exercise  in  Oral  Composition 

88.  A  few  who  did  not  finish  their  compositions 
while  working  in  groups  will  speak  before  the  class. 
They  should  say  all  they  wrote  at  the  blackboard 
and  all  they  would  have  written  if  they  had  had 
time  to  finish. 

SOME  DIFFICULT  WORDS 

89.  Some  words  are  so  much  alike  that  young 
people,  and  sometimes  older  people,  have  difficulty 
in  using  them  properly.  For*  example,  accept  and 
except  are  much  alike  in  sound  when  pronounced 
rapidly,  and  are  somewhat  similar  in  spelling. 
Other  examples  are  afect  and  effect.  But  these  two 
pairs  of  words  are  different  in  meaning.  To  accept 
a  thing  is  "to  receive  it  with  a  consenting  mind,"  as 
Webster  puts  it.  To  except  a  thing  is  to  leave  it  out. 
Thus  it  is  correct  to  say  I  accepted  all  his  gifts  except 
the  money.  Afect  has  several  meanings;  it  means 
to  influence,  as  in  Her  daughter's  death  affected  her 
seriously;  and  it  means  to  put  on,  to  assume,  as  in 
She  affects  the  airs  of  a  grand  lady.  Effect  means  to 
accomplish,  to  bring  about  a  result;  or  it  means  the 
result  itself. 

These  are  very  common  words,  and  are  often  used 
in  letters.  As  you  will  have  much  use  for  them  in 
this  kind  of  writing,  it  is  necessary  to  know  them 
well.  Study  their  meanings  in  the  following 
sentences : 


84  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

1.  It    will    give    me   great  pleasure  to   accept   your 
invitation. 

2.  The  effect  of  the  injury  he  suffered  last  year  still 
remains  with  him. 

3.  After  a   long   discussion    the   lawyers  effected    a 
compromise. 

4.  We  accept  all  your  proposals  except  the  third  one. 

5.  Business  does  not  seem  to  be  much  affected  by 
the  tariff  law. 

6.  That  man's  manner  is  not  natural;  he  is  affected. 

7.  We  had  an  unusually  good  trade  this  week  except 
on  Monday. 

8.  What  will  be  the  effect  of  the  short  harvest  on  the 
cost  of  living? 

9.  It  seems  necessary  to  effect  a  definite  agreement 
before  we  can  transact  business. 

10.  The  agreement  effected  by  the  directors  of  the 
road  with  the  stockholders  has  been  observed  except  for 
about  a  month. 

SPELLING;  EI  AND  IE 

90.  One  of  your  greatest  difficulties,  no  doubt,  is 
the  spelling  of  such  words  as  receive  and  believe,  in 
which  the  e  but  not  the  i  is  pronounced.  Which 
comes  first — the  e  or  the  if  A  man  from  India  who 
once  lectured  in  this  country  said  he  had  learned  to 
do  as  the  Americans  do — he  made  the  i  and  the  e 
just  alike  and  put  the  dot  over  the  middle.  That 
is  a  convenient  way,  but  it  will  not  please  your 
teachers,  your  parents,  nor  the  business  men  with 
whom  you  may  be  associated  hereafter;  nor,  in  the 
end,  will  it  please  you.  Besides,  you  can't  do  it 
on  a  typewriter.     There  is  no  rule  for  determining, 


A    BUSINESS  LETTER  85 

in  every  word,  whether  the  e  or  the  i  comes  first, 
but  there  is  an  old  rule  that  will  help. 

I  before  e, 

Except  after  c, 

Or  when  sounded  like  a, 

As  in  neighbor  and  weigh. 

For  example,  in  believe  the  i  comes  before  the  e;  but 
when  these  letters  follow  c,  the  e  comes  first,  as  in 
receive.  And  when  the  e  has  the  sound  of  a,  the  e 
comes  first.  Exceptions  to  the  rule  are  seize,  nei- 
ther, either,  weird,  financier,  and  leisure. 

Inspect  the  following  words,  and  show  that  the 
rule  applies: 


gneve 

conceive 

veil 

sleigh 

relieve 

field 

relieve 

believe 

deceive 

neigh 

perceive 

reprieve 

siege 

liege 

lief 

lien 

niece 

reign 

Hereafter  when  you  write  words  of  the  kind  we 
have  been  considering,  stop  to  recall  this  rule,  and 
be  sure  to  spell  correctly.  After  a  time  you  will 
do  so  from  force  of  habit. 

A  BUSINESS  LETTER 

91.  A  business  letter  is  usually  very  short,  but 
it  is  sometimes  not  an  easy  thing  to  write.  For  a 
business  man  is  a  person  who  is  very  exact  in  his 
habits;  he  keeps  on  file  all  the  important  letters 
and  orders  he  receives,  so  that  he  can  refer  to  them 
^t  a  moment's  notice;  and  when  he  has  anything  to 


86  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

do,  he  wants  to  do  it  quickly.  Therefore  when  you 
write  to  such  a  person,  you  must  be  sure  to  tell  him 
precisely  what  he  wants  to  know. 

Suppose,  for  example,  that  you  have  ordered  a 
set  of  Hawthorne's  works  from  a  firm  in  Chicago, 
and  that  the  books  have  failed  to  come  as  early  as 
you  have  a  right  to  expect.  Wishing  to  make 
inquiries,  you  will  write  a  letter  somewhat  like  the 
following : 

3208  Western  Avenue 
Mattoon,  111. 

October  10,  19 13 
Castleman,  Rhodes  and  Co. 
123  Wabash  Avenue 
Chicago,  111. 
Dear  Sirs: 

On  September  20th  I  sent  you  an  order  for  a  set 
of  Hawthorne's  works,  and  inclosed  a  money  order 
for  eight  dollars  and  thirty  cents  ($8.30),  the  listed 
price  of  the  books.  The  package  has  not  been 
delivered  at  my  house;  and  I  find  on  inquiry  at 
the  American  Express  Company  office  that  it  has 
not  been  received  there.  Will  you  kindly  investigate 
the  matter  and  send  on  my  purchase  at  once? 

Very  truly  yours, 

James  Strong 

When  this  letter  arrived  it  would  be  opened  with 
hundreds  of  others,  perhaps,  by  a  clerk  whose  duty 
it  is  to  sort  the  mail  and  to  give  each  pile  to  the 
person  who  has  a  particular  part  of  the  day's  business 
to  attend  to.  The  letter  printed  above  would  prob- 
ably go  to  the  order  department.     The  clerk  there 


A   BUSINESS  LETTER  87 

would  examine  the  files  to  see  if  the  letter  mentioned 
had  been  received.  If  it  had,  he  would  then  exam- 
ine the  record  stamped  on  the  back  of  it.  If  the 
record  indicated  that  the  order  had  been  filled,  he 
would  then  look  for  the  receipt  from  the  driver  of 
the  express  wagon  that  carried  away  the  packages 
on  that  day.  In  case  he  found  it,  he  would  send 
a  messenger  or  a  letter,  called  a  ''tracer,"  to  the 
express  company's  office,  asking  that  the  package 
be  traced  at  once.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
found  that  the  mistake  had  been  made  by  himself 
or  any  of  his  associates,  he  would  correct  it  himself 
and  ship  the  books. 

Now,  if  you  will  read  the  letter  again,  you  will 
discover  that  the  clerk  who  investigated  the  matter 
would  have  precisely  the  information  he  needed. 
Just  enough  and  no  more:  that  is  the  rule  in  writing 
business  letters.  In  this  case  the  clerk  would  have 
your  name  and  address,  the  nature  of  your  purchase 
and  the  price,  the  day  on  which  the  letter  was 
written,  the  name  of  the  express  company,  and  the 
fact  that  you  had  sent  a  money  order.  But  if  any 
of  these  details  had  been  omitted,  further  corres- 
pondence would  be  necessary. 

Question:  Was  the  word  received  correctly  spelled 
in  the  letter? 

Form  of  a  Business  Letter 

92.  Business  houses  often  receive  letters  so  poorly 
arranged  that  it  is  difficult  to  read  them.  For  this 
reason  it  is  wise  to  follow  a  set  form,  such  as  that 


88  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

given  in  the  example  letter.     This  form  comprises 
the  following  particulars: 

a.  The  heading,  which  consists  of  the  number  of  the 

writer's  house,  the  name  of  the  street,  and  the 
name  of  the  city  and  the  state. 

b.  The  address,   which  consists  of  the  name  of  the 

person,  firm,  or  company  to  whom  the  letter  is 
sent,  the  number  of  the  building,  the  name  of  the 
street,  and  the  name  of  the  city  and  the  state. 

c.  The  salutation,  which  may  be  Dear  Sirs,  Gentlemen, 

Dear  Sir,  Dear  Madam,  or  Dear  Miss. 

d.  The  body,  which  should  contain  just  enough  and  no 

more. 

e.  The  complimentary  close,  which  is  usually   Yours 

truly  or  Very  truly  yours. 
J.  The  signature,  which  is  your  name  as  you  sign  it. 
And  you  should  be  careful  to  sign  it  always  the 
same  way.  For  example,  if  your  name  is  John 
Henry  Jones  you  may  sign  it  in  full,  or  John  H. 
Jones,  or  J.  H.  Jones,  or  J.  Henry  Jones.  But 
always  sign  it  the  same  way. 

Punctuation  of  the  Letter 

93.  Custom  varies  a  little  in  the  punctuation  of 
the  heading,  the  address,  and  the  salutation  of  a 
letter;  but  the  style  of  punctuation  in  the  example 
letter  is  good,  and  you  are  advised  to  follow  it. 

In  the  heading  a  comma  comes  after  the  name  of 
the  town  to  separate  it  from  the  name  of  the  state. 
The  period  comes  after  the  "111."  because  III.  is  an 
abbreviation.  The  comma  after  ''10"  is  used  to 
separate  the  day  of  the  month  from  the  year. 

In  the  address  of  the  company  to  which  the  letter 


A    BUSINESS  LETTER  89 

is  sent,  the  first  comma  is  used  to  separate  the  name 
of  the  first  member  of  the  company  from  the  name  of 
the  second  member.  The  period  after  "Co."  is 
used  because  this  group  of  letters  is  an  abbreviation. 
The  comma  is  used  after  ''Chicago"  to  separate  the 
name  of  the  city  from  that  of  the  state.  The  period 
is  used  after  "111."  to  indicate  the  abbreviation. 

The  colon  is  used  after  the  salutation  because  the 
voice  falls  as  the  salutation  is  read,  and  because  the 
salutation  is  a  kind  of  introduction  to  the  letter. 

The  comma  after  the  complimentary  close  shows 
that  something  else,  the  signature,  is  to  follow. 

Another  Form  for  a  Business  Letter 

94.  Another  style  of  letter  now  very  common  is 
called  the  ' '  block  style. ' '    An  example  is  given  below : 

136  Meridian  Street 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 
December  27,  19 14 

The  Acme  Company 

26  N.  Jefferson  St. 

Detroit,  Mich. 

Dear  Sirs: 

In  response  to  your  inquiry  of  the  twenty-third 
of  this  month,  we  take  pleasure  in  informing  you 
that  we  carry  the  goods  you  are  in  need  of,  and  that 
we  are  sending  you  printed  information  which 
should  reach  you  in  this  mail.  We  shall  be  glad  to 
receive  an  order  from  you  and  to  consider  you  among 
our  constant  patrons. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  J.  Reeves  Company 


90  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Some  Typical  Business  Letters 

95.  Business  letters  cover  a  great  variety  of 
subjects;  one  of  the  most  common  is  the  letter  in 
which  is  giyen  an  order  for  goods,  of  which  an 
example  appears  below: 

Athens,  Ohio 
March  9,  19 14 
Door  and  Dockett 

124-126  West  Lake  Street 
Chicago,  111. 
Dear  Sirs: 

The  catalogue  of  your  goods  which  you  very  kindly 
mailed  me  at  my  request  has  reached  me,  and  I  am 
glad  to  give  you  the  following  order: 


Block  plane.  No.  loi 

$0.25 

Rabbet  plane,  No.  92 

1. 6s 

Smooth  plane,  No.  3 

■    1.50 

Jointer,  No.  7 

2.70 

Try  square,  No.  20,  12 -inch 

.36 

Ratchet  brace,  No.  30 

1.90 

Total  $8.36 

I  inclose  a  money  order  for  $8.36,  the  amount  of 
the  purchase.  Will  you  please  send  the  goods  by 
American  Express? 

Yours  very  truly, 

John  D.  Roque 

There  are  two  things  to  be  specially  noted  about 
this  letter.  The  first  is  that  the  writer  has  not 
written  his  street  and  his  number.  Street  and 
number  are  unnecessary  when  the  town  from  which 
the  letter  is  written  is  small,  or  when  the  writer 


A    BUSINESS  LETTER  91 

and  his  place  of  residence  or  business  are  well  known. 

The  second  is  that  the  catalogue  number,  the  name, 

and  the  price  of  each  item  of  the  purchase  are  given 

in  column^ 

Two  more  letters  are  given  below — one  a  letter 

of  inquiry  and  the  other  a  reply. 

McHenry,  111. 

R.F.D.  3 

March  13,  1914 
The  Charles  H.  Haines  Co. 

St.  Joseph,  Mich. 
Dear  Sirs: 

From  time  to  time  I  have  seen  your  advertisements 
in  the  magazines,  and  I  venture  to  inquire  whether 
you  make  a  small  gasoline  motor  boat  that  will  run 
in  very  shallow  water.  I  do  a  great  deal  of  hunting, 
and  need  a  boat  that  can  be  used  in  a  stream  of 
varying  depth,  and  even  dragged  over  riffles  and 
into  swamps  without  danger  of  injiuring  the  pro- 
peller. If  you  manufacture  such  a  boat,  kindly 
send  me  an  illustrated  catalogue  with  price  list,  and 
let  me  know  whether  or  not  you  could  fill  an  order  as 
soon  as  received. 

Yours  truly, 

George  Gaylord 

The  thing  that  must  be  specially  noted  about  this 
letter  is  that  it  is  sent  from  the  country.  R.F.D. 
means  Rural  Free  Delivery,  and  the  3  means  that 
the  writer  of  the  letter  lives  in  the  Route  3  district 
for  mail  delivered  from  McHenry,  Illinois. 

There  is  something  requiring  special  attention  in 
the  reply.  Business  houses  usually  have  what  are 
called  letter  heads;  that  is,  at  the  top  of  each  sheet 


92  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

of  their  correspondence  paper  are  printed  their  name, 
their  business,  and  their  address.  It  is  therefore 
unnecessary  to  write  the  address  in  the  heading  of 
the  letter  according  to  the  form  already  given;  the 
date  is  sufficient. 

THE  CHARLES  H.  HAINES  COMPANY 

MANUFACTURERS  OF  GASOLINE  MOTOR  BOATS 

St.  Joseph,  Michigan 

March  15,  1914 
Mr.  George  Gaylord 
McHenry,  111. 
R.F.D.  3 
Dear  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  letter  of  March  13'  we  take  pleasure 
in  saying  that  we  manufacture  precisely  the  boat  you 
are  looking  for.  Our  "Hidden  Propeller  Hunting 
Boat"  has  now  been  on  the  market  for  two  years, 
and  is  rapidly  gaining  in  popularity.  For  details 
concerning  its  construction  we  refer  you  to  the 
illustrated  catalogue  and  price  list  which  we  are  mail- 
ing you  to-day.  As  we  are  careful  to  keep  a  small 
number  of  boats  on  hand,  we  could  in  all  probability 
fill  your  order  on  the  day  it  is  received. 

We  trust  that  we  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  receiv- 
ing your  patronage. 

Yours  very  truly. 

The  Charles  H.  Haines  Company 

Writing  Business  Letters 

96.  A  business  letter,  like  a  letter  of  friendship, 
should  be  written  in  a  spirit  of  politeness.  If  you 
have  a  complaint  to  make,  being  courteous  is  to 


A    BUSINESS  LETTER  93 

have  the  battle  half  won.     A  discourteous  letter 
angers  the  recipient,  and  perhaps  makes  him  want 
to  displease  you  as  much  as  you  have  displeased  him. 
Some  cautions  as  to  form: 

a.  Be  sure  to  indent  the  second  and  third  lines  of  the 

heading  as  they  are  indented  in  the  heading  of 
the  example  letters,  unless  you  use  the  block  style. 

b.  Do  the  same  in  the  case  of  the  address,  unless  you 

use  the  block  style. 

c.  Be  sure  that  the  first  line  of  the  address,  the  salu- 

tation, and  the  body  of  the  letter  are  in  the  same 
vertical  line. 

d.  The  complimentary  close  should  begin  a  little  to 

the  right  of  the  middle  of  the  page  when  the  sig- 
nature is  short;  otherwise  it  should  be  written  as 
in  the  last  example  in  section  95.  The  signature 
should  be  indented,  unless  you  use  the  block  style. 

e.  Be  sure  to  write  the  first  line  of  the  address  a  linq 

lower  than  the  last  line  of  the  heading. 

/.  Leave  a  good  margin,  say  an  inch,  on  each  side  of 
the  sheet. 

g.  Write  only  on  one  side  of  the  paper. 

Now  let  us  suppose  that  you  have  sent  a  money 
order  to  a  company  in  a  distant  city  as  the  purchase 
price  of  a  bicycle,  and  that  when  the  bicycle  comes 
you  find  that  some  part  of  it,  perhaps  a  pedal,  is 
missing.  Write  a  letter  to  the  company  stating  your 
case,  giving  all  information  you  may  think  necessary, 
and  asking  that  the  missing  part  be  sent  without 
expense  to  you. 

At  least  one  of  the  letters  should  be  written  on  the 
blackboard  and  carefully  criticized  by  the  class. 


04  A   COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

97.  Make  a  study  of  the  letter  in  the  following 
manner : 

a.  Explain  the  punctuation  in  the  heading,  the  address, 
and  the  complimentary  close  of  the  letter  written 
on  the  blackboard. 

h.  Do  you  find  that  the  writer  has  written  two  or  more 
sentences  as  if  they  were  one? 

c.  Do  you  find  any  of  the  mistakes  in  grammar  and 

spelling  already  studied?     If  so,  have  the  writer 
correct  them. 

d.  Has  the  writer   succeeded   in   saying   just   enough 

and  no  more? 

THE   ENVELOPE 

98.  Use  an  envelope  if  you  have  one;  otherwise 
fold  a  piece  of  paper  the  right  size  and  write  the 
address  on  it  after  the  following  models: 


Castleman, 

Rhodes  and  Co. 

123 

Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago 

Illinois 

A   REPLY   TO  A   LETTER  95 


Mr.  George  Gaylord 
R.  F.  D.  3 
McHenry 
Illinois 


The  Acme  Company 
26  N.  Jefferson  St. 
Detroit,  Michigan 


A  REPLY  TO  A  LETTER 

99.  Suppose,  on  the  other  hand,  that  you  are  the 
manufacturers  of  the  bicycle  and  that  you  have 
received   one   of   the   letters   that   you   have   just 


96  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

written.  Write  a  reply  and  explain  how  the  mistake 
probably  occurred,  and  say  that  an  extra  pedal  is 
being  sent  by  express. 

Be  careful  how  you  begin  your  letters.  Some 
business  men  begin  in  this  style :  ' '  Yours  of  the  jrd 
inst.  rec'd  and  in  reply  would  beg  to  advise  you,  etc.'' 
This  is  exceedingly  awkward;  no  one  talks  in  such 
a  manner.  Why,  for  example,  should  the  words 
has  been  and  /  (or  we)  be  omitted,  and  why  should 
the  writer  *'beg  to  advise"?  You  may  beg  leave 
to  advise,  or  beg  leave  to  inform,  if  you  wish  to  be 
so  formal;  but  *'beg  to  advise"  is  nonsense.  Write 
your  letters  in  a  plain,  straightforward  way,  using 
such  language  as  you  would  use  in  conversation. 
Also,  avoid  abbreviations;  there  is  no  reason  why 
received,  for  example,  should  be  abbreviated. 

Some  people  object  to  beginning  a  letter  with  the 
word  I,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  egotistical.  For 
the  same  reason  would  it  not  be  necessary  to  leave 
that  word  out  of  our  conversation?  When  you 
speak  to  one  of  your  friends,  do  you  take  care  not 
to  begin  with  I,  lest  you  be  considered  an  egotist? 
The  cases  are  the  same.  If  it  is  easy  and  natural 
for  you  to  begin  a  letter  with  I,  do  so.  The  same 
caution  is  necessary  about  this  word,  however,  as 
about  others — don't  use  it  too  often. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

100.  Have  two  or  three  of  the  letters  written  on 
the  blackboard,  and  criticize  them  in  detail  as  to 
substance  and  form. 


INDIRECT  OBJECTS  97 

Group  Work 
loi.  For  several  days,   work  in   groups  at   the 
blackboard :  some  will  write  orders  for  goods,  inqui- 
ries, and  complaints ;  others  will  answer  the  letters. 

INDIRECT  OBJECTS 

102.  Read  the  following  sentences: 

1.  "He  gave  me  this  advice," 

2.  "He  gave  them  an  eel  to  govern  them." 

3.  "What  pledge  can  I  give  them  of  your  fidelity?" 

4.  Her  mother  bought  her  a  pony. 

5.1  have  granted  you  too  many  favors  already. 

6.  Nurse  told  us  children  a  ghost  story. 

7.  Give  me  the  book. 

8.  My  father  made  us  a  sled. 

9.  This'  watch  was  given  me  by  my  father. 

In  the  first  sentence  given  above,  the  object  is 
"advice."  There  is  also  the  word  "me,"  which 
looks  like  an  object,  as  indeed  it  is,  but  of  a  different 
kind.  It  is  called  the  indirect  object,  or,  to  use  the 
full  term,  the  dative  of  indirect  object.  The  direct 
object  names  the  thing  upon  which  the  action  falls ; 
the  indirect  object  indicates  the  person  or  thing  to  or 
for  which  the  action  was  performed.  Thus  * '  advice" 
is  the  direct  object  in  the  sentence  we  are  discussing, 
and  "me"  is  the  indirect  object. 

What  are  the  direct  and  the  indirect  objects  in  the 
other  example  sentences?  What  objects  have  modi- 
fiers ?     In  what  sentence  is  there  no  direct  object  ? 

103.  Write  a  few  sentences  containing  objects 
and  indirect  objects. 


gS  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

EXERCISE  IN  GRAMMAR 

104.  There  follows  another  fable  of  ^^sop,  called 
"The  Lion  and  the  Dolphin."  It  should  be  studied 
for  the  sake  of  determining  (a)  what  the  predicate 
verbs  and  modifiers  are,  (b)  what  the  subjects  and 
modifiers  are,  and  (c)  what  the  direct  objects,  the 
indirect  objects,  and  their  modifiers  are.  You 
should  also  be  able  to  detect  the  group  objects,  which 
may  of  themselves  contain  objects. 

You  will  need  some  help,  however,  because  some 
of  the  sentences  have  more  than  one  set  of  verbs 
and  subjects.  The  first  sentence,  for  example,  has 
five  verbs — "was  roaming,"  "saw,"  "lift,"  "pro- 
posed,"and"  form . "  The  sub j  ect  of  "  was  roaming ' ' 
is  "that";  the  subject  of  "saw"  is  "lion";  the  subject 
of  "lift"  is  "dolphin";  the  subject  of  "proposed" 
is  "lion";  and  the  subject  of  "form"  is  "they." 
One  of  the  subjects,  therefore,  has  two  verbs,  which 
are  joined  by  "and";  that  is,  "A  lion  .  .  .  saw 
.  .  .  and  proposed  ..."  This  may  look  some- 
what difficult ;  but  if  you  will  first  carefully  determine 
what  are  the  verbs  in  each  sentence,  and  then  carefully 
consider  what  are  the  subjects  of  them,  you  will  have 
made  a  good  beginning,  and  the  difficulty  will  be 
less  than  by  any  other  method. 

"A  lion  that  was  roaming  by  the  seashore  saw  a  dolphin 
lift  up  its  head  out  of  the  water,  and  proposed  that  they 
form  a  partnership.  'For,'  said  he,  *I  am  the  king  of 
beasts  on  the  earth,  and  you  are  the  king  of  beasts  in  the 
water;  and  we  ought,  therefore,  to  be  the  best  of  friends.' 
The  dolphin  gladly  consented.      Not  long  afterward  the 


EXERCISE   IN  GRAMMAR  99 

lion  had  a  combat  with  a  wild  bull,  and  called  on  the 
dolphin  to  help  him.  The  dolphin,  though  quite  willing 
to  help  him,  was  unable  to  do  so,  as  he  could  in  no 
way  reach  the  land.  The  lion  abused  him,  and  called 
him  a  traitor.  The  dolphin  replied,  'Nay,  my  friend, 
blame  not  me,  but  Nature,  which  gave  me  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  sea,  but  quite  denied  me  the  power  of  living 
upon  the  land!'  " 

Punctuation 

105.  In  the  first  sentence  the  verbs  "saw"  and 
"proposed"  are  joined  by  "and,"  but  several  words 
intervene  between  the  two  verbs.  In  such  a  case 
you  make  a  slight  pause  or  jog  of  the  voice  before 
the  connective  word  "and."  Therefore  when  the 
sentence  is  written  a  comma  is  used  in  that  place. 

Can  you  tell  why,  in  terms  of  grammar,  there  is  a 
comma  after  "bull"  in  the  fourth  sentence? 

What  other  punctuation  marks  can  you  explain 
the  use  of?  Why  are  both  quotation  marks  and 
half-quotation  marks  used? 

EXERCISE  IN   GRAMMAR 

106.  The  passage  given  below  is  the  beginning  of 
a  story  called  "The  Story  of  the  Youth  Who  Went 
Forth  to  Learn  What  Fear  Was."  Study  it  as  you 
did  the  fable  in  section  104. 

"A  certain  father  had  two  sons,  the  elder  of  whom  was 
sharp  and  sensible,  and  could  do  everything;  but  the 
younger  was  stupid,  and  could  neither  learn  nor  under- 
stand anything;  and  when  people  saw  him  they  said, 
'There's  a  fellow  who  will  give  his  father  some  trouble.' 


100  A    COMPOSITION- GRAMMAR 

When  anything  had  to  be  done,  it  was  always  the  elder 

who  was  forced  to  do  it ;  but  if  his  father  bade  him  fetch 

anything  when  it  was  late,  or  in  the  night  time,  and  the 

way  led  through  the  churchyard,  or  any  other  dismal 

place,  he  answered,  *0h,  no,  father,  I'll  not  go  there;  it 

makes  me  shudder ! '  for  he  was  afraid.     Or  when  stories 

were  told  by  the  fire  at  night  which  made  the  flesh  creep, 

the  listeners  often  said,  *0h,  it  makes  us  shudder!'     The 

younger  sat  in  the  corner  and  listened  with  the  rest  of 

them,  and   could  not  imagine  what  they  could  mean. 

'They  are  always  saying,  " It  makes  me  shudder,  it  makes 

me  shudder!"     It  does  not  make  me  shudder,'  thought 

he.     'That,  too,  must  be  an  art  of  which  I  understand 

nothing.'  " 

Grimm,  Household  Tales 

Punctuation:  Quotation  Marks 

107.  You  have  already  learned  that  when  the 
exact  words  of  a  speaker  are  given  they  are  inclosed 
within  quotation  marks,  and  that  when  a  quotation 
within  a  quotation  occurs,  half-quotation  marks  are 
used.  The  paragraph  in  the  preceding  section  is 
even  more  complicated,  for  it  contains  a  quotation 
within  a  quotation  within  a  quotation,  and  here 
quotation  marks  are  used  again.  Reconsider  the 
paragraph  and  study  this  matter. 

How  is  a  quotation  separated  from  such  expres- 
sions as  smd  he  or  he  remarked? 

EXERCISE   IN   GRAMMAR 

108.  There  follows  a  theme  written  by  a  pupil 
in  an  elementary  school.  .  Study  it  to  determine 
(a)    whether    the    writer    began    and    ended  each 


EXERCISE   IN  GRAMUAk lo'i 

sentence  properly,  {h)  what  are  the'v^fbsVsubjects,* 
objects,  indirect  objects,  and  their  modifiers,  {c) 
what  are  the  group  objects,  if  any,  {d)  whether  the 
quotation  marks  are  correctly  used,  {e)  whether  the 
words  are  correctly  spelled,  and  (/)  whether  all 
the  sentences  have  an  agreeable  sound.  Consider 
also  whether  the  story  seems  complete  in  all  par- 
ticulars. It  would  be  a  good  exercise  to  rewrite 
the  story  after  it  has  been  considered  in  class. 

I  Have  a  Search 

I  read  the  interesting  letter  of  Grandfather's  again  and 
again  as  I  walked  thro'  the  wood  but  still  I  found  no  clew 
to  the  mystery.     It  ran  like  this : 

It  is  true  that  Indians  once  lived  upon  the  same  grounds 
where  the  old  home  now  stands,  in  fact  they  were  the  only 
playmates  I  ever  knew.  As  you  are  so  interested,  I  will 
tell  you  where  you  may  find  something  that  will  be  of 
valuable  information  to  you. 

Go  to  Oak  Grove  and  following  the  trail  till  you  come 
to  the  woodland,  turn  and  walk  ahead  till  you  come  to 
the  two  massive  oaks  on  the  left  of  the  path.  One  of 
the  oaks  has  the  bark  stripped  off  and  Indian  designs  cut 
in  the  trunk.  Beneath  the  tree  is  a  mound  of  black  earth. 
Take  your  shovel  and  uncovering  the  mound  you  will  find 
something  of  interest  unless  in  these  many  years  they 
have  fallen  to  dust. 

"Oh!  how  jolly!  the  search  is  over  I  hope  it  hasn't 
been  in  vain." 

My  brother  being  with  me  we  worked  steady  till  our 
eyes  fall  upon  the  warped  and  rather  decayed  looking 
arrows  and  arrow  heads  with  strings  of  mettle  coins  in 
the  midst  of  dust  and  bones. 


102  "   "    A^'COMPpSITION-GRAMMAR 

How  'iMerestirrgT"  to  think  we  had  not  been  disap- 
pointed. Spying  a  sort  of  slate  affair,  we  thrust  our 
shovel  in  again  and  read  this: 

"Chieftain  of  Tippecanoe  Tribe." 
To  think  we  had  found  the  grave  of  a  real  chieftain !  We 
filled  the  hole  up,  our  hunt  being  accomplished  so  that 
those  who  came  after  might  have  the  same  pleasure  and 
running  home  told  the  story  to  the  eager  home  folks  who 
declared  the  search  indeed  worth  while. 

•  SUBSTANTIVE   WITH  A  CONNECTIVE   WORD 

109.  Read  the  following  sentences: 

1 .  Give  the  book  and  the  pencil  to  me. 

2.  They  came  with  their  friends. 

3.  He  bought  the  ball  for  fifty  cents. 

4.  After  a  long  sleep  he  had  his  dinner. 

5.  They  passed  by  our  house  at  seven  o'clock. 

6.  The  farmer  plowed  and  harrowed  that  field  in 
three  days. 

7.  Either  Tom  or  Nell  will  come  for  us. 

8.  For  a  long  time  he  would  not  speak  to  us. 

9.  The  dog  is  under  the  table. 

In  the  first  of  these  sentences  "and"  is  a  con- 
nective v^^ord  joining  the  two  objects  "book"  and 
*  *  pencil. ' '  The  word  "to"  is  also  a  connective  word, 
but  it  is  not  the  kind  that  joins  two  objects,  or  two 
subjects,  or  two  verbs.  Its  duty  is  to  add  to  the 
idea  of  the  sentence  the  word  "me,"  which  stands 
for  the  person  to  whom  the  book  and  the  pencil  are 
to  be  given.  "Me"  is  therefore  of  ,a  different  rank 
in  the  sentence  from  that  of  "book"  and  "pencil"; 
that  is,  it  is  not  an  object  of  the  verb. 


EXERCISE  IN  GRAMMAR  103 

It  must  be  clear,  then,  that  there  are  at  least  two 
kinds  of  words  whose  sole  duty  it  is  to  connect. 
They  will  be  studied  later,  but  for  the  present  we 
shall  call  them  all  connective  words.  Examples  of 
one  kind  are  and,  hut,  and  or;  and  these  all  join 
words  or  groups  of  words  that  have  the  same  rank 
in  the  sentence.  Examples  of  the  other  kind  are 
with,  for,  to,  in,  by,  at,  under,  over,  and  from;  and 
their  use  is  to  add  a  word  or  group  of  words  to 
another  word  or  group  of  words  that  has  a  different 
rank  in  the  sentence.  The  word  or  group  of  words 
that  follows  such  a  connective  is  said  to  be  a  sub- 
stantive with  a  connective  word. 

Consider  carefully  the  example  sentences  and 
determine  what  connectives  are  followed  by  sub- 
stantives. 

Write  on  the  blackboard  several  sentences  con- 
taining connectives  that  are  followed  by  substan- 
tives, and  explain  them  for  a  class  exercise. 

EXERCISE  IN   GRAMMAR 

no.  Read  the  following  passage  aloud. in  class 
and  discuss  it  until  you  are  sure  that  you  know 
something  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  old  Englishman 
called  Sir  Roger. 

"As  Sir  Roger  is  landlord  of  the  whole  congregation, 
he  keeps  them  in  very  good  order,  and  will  suffer  nobody 
to  sleep  in  it  besides  himself ;  for  if  by  chance  he  has  been 
surprised  into  a  short  nap  at  sermon,  upon  recovering  out 
of  it  he  stands  up  and  looks  about  him,  and  if  he  sees 
anybody  else  nodding,  either  wakes  them  himself,  or 
sends  his  servant  to  them.     Several  other  of  the  old 


I04  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

knight's  particularities  break  out  upon  these  occasions; 
sometimes  he  will  be  lengthening  out  a  verse  in  the  singing 
Psalms,  half  a  minute  after  the  rest  of  the  congregation 
have  done  with  it;  sometimes  when  he  is  pleased  with 
the  matter  of  his  devotion,  he  pronounces  'Amen'  three 
of  four  times  to  the  same  prayer;  and  sometimes  stands 
up  when  everybody  else  is  upon  their  knees,  to  count  the 
congregation,  or  see  if  any  of  his  tenants  are  missing. 

"I  was  yesterday  very  much  surprised  to  hear  my  old 
friend,  in  the  midst  of  the  service,  calling  out  to  one  John 
Matthews  to  mind  what  he  was  about,  and  not  disturb 
the  congregation.  This  John  Matthews  it  seems  is 
remarkable  for  being  an  idle  fellow,  and  at  that  time  was 
kicking  his  heels  for  his  diversion.  This  authority  of  the 
knight,  though  exerted  in  that  odd  manner  which  accom- 
panies him  in  all  circumstances  of  life,  has  a  very  good 
effect  upon  the  parish,  who  are  not  polite  enough  to  see 
anything  ridiculous  in  his  behavior;  besides  that  the 
general  good  sense  and  worthiness  of  his  character  makes 
his  friends  observe  these  little  singularities  as  foils  that 
rather  set  off  than  blemish  his  good  qualities." 

Addison,  in  the  Spectator 

In  this  selection  there  are  many  little  groups  of 
words  each  of  which  consists  of  a  connective  word 
and  a  substantive,  perhaps  with  modifiers.  The 
following  are  examples  from  the  first  sentence. 

* '  of  the  whole  congregation ' ' 

"  in  very  good  order  " 

"in  it" 

"besides  hiinself  " 
a.  Take  up  the  passage,  sentence  by  sentence,  and  read 
aloud  all  such  groups  of  words.     Note  that  they 
do  not  contain  a  predicate  and  a  subject. 


MISTAKES  IN   THE    USE  OF  OBJECTS  lO^ 

b.  In  the  first  sentence  the  word  "and"  joins  "keeps" 

and  "will  suffer,"  between  which  come  several 
other  words.  You  observe  that  there  is  a  punc- 
tuation mark  before  the  "and,"  in  this  case  a 
comma.  Do  you  find  any  other  cases  in  the  pass- 
age where  there  is  a  comma,  or  perhaps  a  semi- 
colon, before  and  or  or  when  one  of  these  words 
joins  two  words  or  groups  of  words  that  are  rather 
far  apart? 

c.  In  the  first  sentence  there  occurs  the  word  "con- 

gregation," which  conveys  the  idea  of  a  group  of 
people.  Afterwards,  in  the  same  sentence,  the 
author  refers  to  "congregation"  by  the  word 
"they,"  which  means  many  persons,  and  later 
by  "it,"  which  means  only  one  thing.  Can  you 
explain  this  ?  Perhaps  it  will  be  necessary  for  you 
to  refer  to  section  63. 

MISTAKES  IN  THE  USE  OF  OBJECTS  AND 
SUBSTANTIVES  WITH   CONNECTIVES 

III.  Some  people  have  the  inclination  to  speak 
correctly,  but  have  not  enough  knowledge  of  the 
language  to  do  so.  The  result  is  that  they  make 
very  absurd  errors.  One  case  occurs  in  the  following 
sentence:  He  gave  the  book  to  him  and  I.  A  person 
who  uses  such  a  sentence  would  not  say  He  gave  the 
book  to  I,  for  that  would  be  instantly  recognized  as 
absurd;  it  is  only  when  two  words  joined  by  and 
are  used  after  to  that  the  error  occurs.  You  may 
be  sure  that  persons  who  make  these  mistakes  have 
been  warned  against  using  such  sentences  as  Him 
and  me  are  good  friends,  and  that  they  think  it  is 
never  correct  to  use  him  and  me.     Now  him  and 


io6  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

me  and  her  and  me  are  both  correct  when  they 
occur  after  the  kind  of  connective  words  we  have 
been  studying  about,  and  when  they  occur  as  ob- 
jects of  verbs.  The  following  sentences  contain 
correct  illustrations : 

1.  They  gave  the  book  to  him  and  me. 

2.  They  gave  the  book  to  her  and  me. 

3.  The  gift  pleased  him  and  me. 

4.  The  gift  pleased  her  and  me. 

An  incorrect  use  of  a  connective  word  appears 
in  the  sentence,  Where  was  I  atf  It  is  incorrect 
because  "at"  connects  nothing.  The  following  sen- 
tences are  correct: 

Where  was  I  ? 

I  was  at  home. 

You  will  observe  that  at  is  not  used  in  the  first  of 
these  sentences,  and  that  in  the  second  sentence  it 
is  followed  by  a  substantive. 

Between  should  be  used  when  it  is  followed  by  a 
word  or  words  meaning  two  persons  or  things,  as  in 
between  us  (two  persons),  and  as  in  between  you  and 
me;  and  among  should  be  used  when  it  is  followed 
by  a  word  or  words  meaning  more  than  two  persons, 
as  in  among  us  (more  than  two  persons)  and  among 
them  (more  than  two  persons). 

It  is  often  difficult  to  know  what  connective  word 
to  use  after  differ.  To  difer  with  is  to  express  dis- 
agreement with  a  person;  to  difer  from  is  to  be 
unlike. 

Never  say  different  than;  always  say  different  from, 
as  in  This  rose  is  different  from  that  one. 


MISTAKES  IN   THE    USE   OF   OBJECTS  107 

It  is  correct  to  say  hack  of  and  in  front  of,  but  not 
to  say  in  hack  of. 

Study  the  use  of  these  connective  words  in  the 
following  sentences: 

1.  Between  you  and  mc,  something  surprising  is  going 
to  happen  to-morrow. 

2.  It  is  just  among  us,  of  course,  but  something  sur- 
prising will  happen  to-morrow. 

3.  In  what  respects  are  the  Rockies  different  from  the 
Alleghenies? 

4.  My  chum  and  I  differ  with  each  other  constantly, 
but  we  never  quarrel. 

5.  The  weather  to-day  differed  from  that  of  yesterday. 

6.  To  differ  with  that  fellow  is  to  make  an  enemy  of 
him. 

7.  The  orchard  is  just  back  of  the  bam. 

The  word  to,  a  connective,  and  two  and  too  differ 
from  one  another  in  spelling  but  are  alike  in  sound. 
This  makes  them  difficult  to  spell.  But  as  you  have 
already  learned  that  to  is  a  connective,  you  should 
no  longer  misspell  it.  Two  is  a  word  expressing 
number,  as  when  you  speak  of  two  crows,  or  two 
cows.  Too  either  expresses  degree,  as  in  too  much 
and  too  far,  or  it  has  the  sense  of  also,  as  in  My 
brother  reads  a  great  deal;  my  sister,  too,  is  a  great 
reader. 

Study  the  meaning  and  the  spelling  of  these 
words  in  the  following  sentences: 

1.  You  are  walking  too  slow  to  get  to  school  on  time. 

2.  "There  were  two  crows  sat  on  a  tree." 

3.  We  are  going  to  the  woods  on  Saturday.  Are  you 
going  too? 


io8  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

4.  Being  ill  on  Saturday  is  too  great  a  misfortune. 

5.  We  saw  two  crows  on  a  tree;  two  hawks  were  there 
too. 

'  6.  The  Mississippi  is  a  great  river;  th^  Amazon,  too,  is 
one  of  the  largest  in  the  world. 

Like  is  another  troublesome  word.  Every  day 
you  hear  people  use  such  sentences  as  He  does  n't 
do  that  like  I  do.  The  sentence  should  be  He  does  n't 
do  that  as  I  do.  Like  should  never  be  followed  by  a 
group  of  words  that  has  a  subject  and  a  predicate. 
Remember  this,  and  watch  yourselves  carefully. 

On  the  other  hand,  like  is  properly  used  before  a 
word  or  group  of  words  that  has  not  a  subject  and 
a  predicate;  that  is,  it  may  be  followed  by  a  sub- 
stantive. In  one  of  his  poems  Tennyson  says, 
''Like  a  dog  he  hunts  in  dreams.'*  The  sentence 
would  be  correct  also  if  one  said  He  hunts  in  dreams, 
like  a  dog.  In  this  sentence  the  man  and  the  dog 
are  compared;  but  if  one  should  say  He  hunts  as  a 
dog  hunts,  the  hunting  of  the  dog  and  the  hunting 
of  the  man  would  be  compared. 

COMPOSITION:  A  CHARACTER  SKETCH 
112.  Not  long  since,  you  read  two  paragraphs 
about  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley,  a  character  in  a  book 
called  the  Spectator.  Perhaps  you  know  more 
about  him  than  appears  in  those  two  paragraphs. 
If  so,  you  know  that  he  was  a  very  admirable 
old  man  —  one  who  was  loved  by  all  about  him  for 
his  kindness  of  heart,  his  unfailing  courtesy,  and  his 
generosity.  Yet  his  childlike  simplicity  sometimes 
made  him  laughable.     It  certainly  must  have  been 


COMPOSITION:    A    CHARACTER   SKETCH        109 

funny  to  see  him  wake  out  of  a  sound  nap  at  church 
and  suddenly  rise  and  awaken  some  other  sleeper. 
His  good  qualities  and  his  laughable  ones  made  him 
a  very  interesting  person  to  read  about. 

Now  if  he  is  an  interesting  kind  of  person  to  read 
about,  he  is  also  a  very  interesting  kind  of  person 
to  write  about.  Do  you  know  any  people  who  are 
very  lovable  and  yet  who  are  so  funny  in  their  ways 
and  their  speech  that  their  friends  smile  at  them 
secretly?  It  is  probable  that  you  do,  and  that 
you  can  write  very  interesting  compositions  about 
them.     Some  cautions  are  necessary: 

1.  Try  to  choose  some  one  who  is  not  known  to  the 

other  pupils  in  the  room,  for  otherwise  you  will  be 

too  personal. 
6.  Choose  a  fictitious  name  for  the  person,  for  not  to 

do  so  would  also  be  to  make  your  composition  too 

personal. 

c.  Be  sure  to  tell  the  qualities  that  make  the  person 

lovable  and  the  qualities  or  the  habits  that  make 
him  laughable. 

d.  If  you  can,  tell  some  little  story  about  the  person, 

some  incident  that  will  show  his  qualities,  espe- 
cially the  laughable  ones. 

e.  Try  to  do  just  what  you  are  asked  to  do,  and  not 

something  else.  Compositions  about  supremely 
perfect  persons  are  likely  to  be  tiresome. 

/.  Above  all,  do  not  so  far  fail  to  obey  instructions  as 
to  write  about  some  person  whom  you  dislike. 

g.  Be  careful  about  paragraphing,  spelling,  complete- 
ness of  sentences,  and  punctuation  so  far  as  you 
have  learned  it,  and  do  not  make  any  mistakes 
in  grammar. 


no  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

h.  Before  you  begin  to  write,  make  an  outline  of  what 
you  intend  to  say;  but  if  you  find,  as  you  write, 
that  you  can  improve  your  outHne,  do  so.    • 

A  COMMON  MISTAKE  IN  GRAMMAR 
113.  If  you  will  turn  back  to  the  passage  about 
Sir  Roger  de  Coverley,  you  will  find  a  sentence  or 
two  after  this  style :  If  anybody  is  asleep,  wake  them 
up.  It  is  plain  that  ''anybody"  means  one  person 
and  that  "is"  is  the  proper  predicate  verb  to  go 
with  a  subject  that  means  one  person  or  thing;  yet 
in  this  sentence  the  word  "them,"  which  means 
more  than  one  person,  is  used  to  refer  to  "anybody." 
This  was  good  English  when  the  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley 
Papers  were  written,  but  it  is  no  longer  so  regarded. 
Our  example  sentence  should  be.  If  anybody  is  asleep, 
wake  him  up.  Study  the  following  sentences  and 
show  that  they  are  correct: 

1.  If  anybody  has  my  book,  he  had  better  return  it. 

2.  Let  every  pupil  take  his  book  and  turn  to  page  78. 

3.  Each  one  of  you  should  attend  to  his  own  affairs. 

4.  Whenever  a  person  has  anything  to  do,  he  should 
do  it  promptly. 

5.  Somebody  has  borrowed  my  eraser,  and  I  want  him 
to  return  it. 

It  is  likely  that  you  have  been  making  mistakes 
in  this  kind  of  sentence,  and  unless  you  take  great 
care  you  will  continue  to  do  so.  In  order  to  correct 
your  own  bad  habits  of  speech,  you  should  listen 
carefully  to  the  speech  of  others,  and  listen  even 
more  carefully  to  your  own.  Only  care  and  atten- 
tion will  improve  your  use  of  English. 


TWO  COMPOSITIONS  BY  PUPILS  tii 

CLASS   CRITICISM   OF  A  COMPOSITION 

114.  At  least  one  of  the  character  sketches  you 
were  asked  to  write  has  been  written  on  the  black- 
board while  the  others  were  being  written  at  the 
seats,  or,  if  the  writing  was  done  at  home,  one 
will  now  be  copied  on  the  blackboard.  The  author 
will  be  asked  to  read  it  aloud,  and  the  class  will 
then  decide 

a.  Whether  the  writer  succeeded  in  writing  the  kind 

of  character  sketch  that  was  asked  for.  Did-  he 
make  you  like  the  person  he  described,  and  did 
he  make  you  laugh  at  him?  If  not,  ask  him  to 
give  an  oral  account  of  something  he  has  thought 
of  since  writing. 

b.  Whether  he  made  any  errors  in  composition  and 

grammar.     If  he  did,  try  to  ask  him  some  ques- 
tions that  will  make  him  see  what  his  errors  are. 
After  this  public  criticism,  exchange  papers  and 
give  individual  criticism. 

TWO   COMPOSITIONS   BY  PUPILS 

115.  In  this  section  there  are  two  compositions — 
one  by  a  boy  and  one  by  a  girl. 

Part  of  My  Life 

I  am  a  Haviland  china  cup.  I  live  on  the  mantlepiece. 
My  companions  are  the  Haviland  china  saucer  and  the 
silver  candlestick. 

One  evening  the  cat  jumped  upon  the  mantlepiece  and 
began  to  walk  around.  About  the  time  that  she  reached 
me  she  was  discovered  by  my  mistress,  who  came  rushing 
into  the  room  and  cried  out,  "Get  off  that  mantlepiece, 
you  old  cat;  you  will  ruin  all  my  ornaments."     As  she 


112  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Spoke,  she  struck  at  the  cat  with  the  dust  cloth  that  she 
had  in  her  hand.  Now,  the  cat  while  trying  to  dodge  the 
blow  knocked  me  off  the  mantlepiece.  Crash!  I  hit 
the  mantlepiece  a  blow  that  knocked  me  all  to  pieces. 
"Oh,"  cried  my  mistress,  ringing  her  hands,  "What  shall 
I  do?     My  beautiful  Haviland  cup  is  broken." 

The  maid  picked  me  up  with  a  dustpan  and  whisk- 
broom,  and  threw  me  into  the  ashes.  The  next  day  the 
ashman  came  and  put  me  into  his  cart  with  a  shovel, 
only  to  dump  me  out  into  a  big  pile  of  ashes.  That  is 
where  I  am  still  living,  and  you  can  well  imagine  that  I 
am  a  nervous  wreck. 

My  Autobiography 

I  am  a  desk  in  a  schoolroom.  I  am  just  crammed  full 
of  secrets  of  all  sorts.  I  am  just  like  the  thousand  other 
desks  in  the  school,  grew  in  the  same  forest,  was  made 
the  same  way,  am  just  the  same  age.  I  probably  know 
just  as  many  secrets  as  the  other  desks.  But  I  think  I 
know  more  than  most  of  them.     Why?     Because  I  am 

a  back  seat  and  naturally When  I  was  first  put  in 

the  schoolroom  I  was  very  innocent  and  pretty.  I 
thought  all  children  were  cherubs.  But  my  opinion 
slightly  changed  when  the  boy  that  sat  in  my  seat  made 
a  picture  of  his  pet  dog  across  my  top,  and  what  a  picture ! 
I  got  revenge  when  he  said  that  the  capital  of  Russia  was 
Paris.  I  laughed  so  hard  that  my  ink  well  nearly  broke. 
I  know  why  the  teacher  asked  Billy  Jenkins  if  he  had 
a  cold  because  he  did  n't  speak  plainly.  No,  it  was  n't  a 
cold;  the  rest  of  the  candy  was  in  my  desk  at  the  time. 
I  also  know  why  Miss  Grey  was  so  forgiving  and  let  the 
children  out  of  staying  after  school  the  other  night. 
I  heard  Miss  Reed  ask  her  to  dinner  with  her,  and  to  come 
right  after  school.     Well,  I  have  been  in  this  school  a 


TWO  COMPOSITIONS  BY  PUPILS  113 

long  time  and  am  not  exactly  an  ornament,  and  I  suppose 
the  "School  Beautiful  Club"  will  insist  on  my  being  used 
for  kindling  wood,  but  I  have  one  consolation,  and 
that  is  that  I  know  their  Johnnies  and  Annies  and  Fannies 
aren't  such  angels  after  all. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

116.  You  have  already  become  accustomed  to 
asking  yourselves  two  questions  about  a  composition : 
First,  did  the  writer  succeed  in  doing  what  he 
intended  to  do?  Second,  was  what  he  tried  to  do 
worth  doing?  Let  us  consider  these  questions 
with  respect  to  these  autobiographies. 

An  autobiography  is  a  life  of  a  person  written  by 
himself.  Hence  there  is  no  difference  in  meaning 
between  such  titles  as  "My  Autobiography"  and 
"Part  of  My  Life,"  except  that  one  writer's  title 
leads  you  to  expect  all  the  life  story  and  the  other 
only  part  of  it.  Now  in  each  of  these  cases  the 
writer  attempted  to  imagine  himself  an  inanimate 
thing,  and  to  tell  its  story.  Was  the  effort  a 
success?     Consider  the  following  points: 

a.  One  title  leads  you  to  expect  only  a  part  of  the  story, 

while  the  other  leads  you  to  expect  it  all.  Did  both 
writers  choose  their  titles  accurately?  Isn't  it 
true  that  one  of  the  writers  told  less  than  you  have 
a  right  to  expect?  If  you  think  so,  how  would 
you  revise  the  title? 

b.  Did  both  writers  make  you  believe  that  Haviland 

cups  and  school  desks,  if  they  had  life,  would  speak 
as  this  particular  cup  and  this  particular  desk  are 
made  to  talk?    That  is,  do  you  think  the  writers 


114  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

have  cleverly  imagined  themselves  in  the  places 
of  these  two  inanimate  things?  Show  in  detail 
why  you  think  so. 

c.  Do  you  think  the  two  compositions  are  in  good  order  ? 

That  is,  does  the  writer  in  each  case  let  you  know 
what  he  is  going  to  write  about,  does  he  tell  you 
the  events  in  right  order  as  he  goes  along,  and  does 
he  end  with  an  idea  that  cleverly  finishes  the  story  ? 

d.  Are  there  any  clever  touches  here  and  there  that  you 

particularly  like?  For  example,  in  the  story 
about  the  school  desk  there  is  a  long  dash  at  one 
place.  What  does  it  mean?  Are  there  any  other 
places  in  either  story  where  you  see  that  the  writer 
really  meant  more  than  was  said?  And  are  there 
any  ideas  in  either  story  that  a  dull  boy  or  girl 
would  not  have  thought  of? 

e.  There   remains   the   second   question   to    consider. 

Was  the  thing  these  two  pupils  did  worth  doing? 
It  is  clear  that  there  is  nothing  in  either  story  that 
will  make  it  easier  for  you  to  earn  your  bread  and 
butter  when  you  have  that  to  do;  but  there  may 
be  some  other  benefit  in  reading  such  stories, 
namely,  the  mere  pleasure  you  get  out  of  them. 
Do  you  consider  that  a  benefit  worth  while  ?  And 
if  you  do,  was  it  worth  while  for  the  authors  of 
these  two  autobiographies  to  write  them? 

Besides  these  two  general  criticisms,  there  are  some 
minor  matters  to  consider.  The  boy  who  wrote  the 
first  story  began  the  word  Haviland  with  a  small 
letter,  and  this  error  was  corrected  before  the  story 
was  printed.  Haviland  is  the  name  of  two  brothers 
in  France  who  established  a  business  for  the  manu- 
facture of  chinaware;  and  as  you  very  well  know. 


TWO   COMPOSITIONS  BY  PUPILS  115 

the  name  of  a  person  should  be  begun  with  a  capital 
letter.  He  also  wrote  ''candlestick  holder,"  when 
it  is  clear  that  candlestick  or  candle  holder  is  enough ; 
and  this  too  had  to  be  corrected  before  the  story  was 
printed.  If  he  had  had  time  before  the  teacher  took 
his  paper,  he  might  have  corrected  his  errors;  but 
as  he  did  not,  some  of  them  have  been  corrected 
for  him.  Others,  however,  have  been  left  uncor- 
rected so  that  you  may  correct  them.  The  same  is 
true  of  the  girl's  story.     For  example,    • 

a.  Have  you  discovered  that  the  boy,  in  ending  his 

story,  wrote  something  not  quite,  in  harmony  with 
what  he  had  written  in  the  beginning  ?  And  have 
you  noticed  that  he  once  wrote  "  mantlepiece " 
when  he  meant  something  else?  How  can  you 
correct  his  error? 

b.  In  the  girl's  story  occurs  this  sentence:     "When 

I  was  first  put  in  the  schoolroom  I  was  very  inno- 
cent and  pretty."  Then  she  goes  on  to  say  that 
she  thought  all  children  were  cherubs,  that  is, 
very  good  indeed,  but  that  she  afterwards  learned 
that  some  children  are  not  very  good.  Her 
thinking  that  all  children  were  cherubs  could 
undoubtedly  be  due  to  her  being  "innocent," 
that  is,  ignorant  of  the  ways  of  the  world,  but 
how  could  it  be  due  to  her  being  "pretty"?  Are 
pretty  people  necessarily  ignorant  of  the  ways  of  the 
world?  One  might  as  well  say,  "I  had  blue  eyes; 
therefore  I  was  ignorant  of  the  ways  of  the  world." 
It  must  be  clear, then,that  being  pretty  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  case.     How  may  the  error  be  corrected  ? 

c.  The  boy's  story  contains  the  expression,  "ringing 

her  hands."     When  a  bell  or  a  drinking  glass  is 


ii6  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

struck,  it  rings;  but  did  you  ever  hear  of  a  hand 
ringing?  There  certainly  must  be  some  error 
here.  How  can  you  correct  it  ?  Can  you  discover 
any  other  errors  in  the  compositions  ? 

SPELLING:    A  STUDY  OF  HOMONYMS 

117.  You  have  doubtless  discovered  that  the 
boy  wrote  "ring"  when  he  should  have  written 
wring.  The  spelling  of  the  words  of  our  language 
is  certainly  strange;  for  here  are  two  words  that 
sound  aHke  but  are  spelled  differently  and  have 
different  meanings.  Such  words  are  called  hom- 
onyms. This  word  comes  from  the  Greek  language, 
and  means  the  same  name.  Words  that  are  the  same 
in  sound  and  perhaps  in  spelling,  but  have  different 
meanings,  are  homonyms.  The  term  is  often  applied 
also  to  words  that  are  spelled  alike  but  have  different 
pronunciation  and  different  meanings,  like  bow, 
meaning  to  bend,  and  bow,  meaning  a  weapon. 
The  following  words  are  homonyms.  If  you  do 
not  know  their  meanings,   consult  the  dictionary. 


mete 


ring 

wring 

rung 

wrung 

meet 

meat 

bear 

bare 

great 

grate 

die 

dye 

feet 

feat 

faint 

feint 

sight 

site 

gait 

gate 

right 

write 

rite 


SUBJECTS   FOR   ORAL    COMPOSITIONS  117 

road  rowed  rode 

tail  tale 

vain  vane  vein 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  homonyms  that  you 
use  nearly  every  day.  If  you  find  that  you  misspell 
some  of  them,  you  should  refer  to  section  59  and  take 
the  advice  given  there.  And  if  you  find  such  words 
misspelled  in  the  compositions  your  friends  write, 
you  should  ask  them  to  take  the  same  advice. 

SUBJECTS  FOR  ORAL  COMPOSITIONS 
118.  Perhaps  it  is  well  to  remind  you  again  that 
you  can  think  of  a  good  deal  more  to  say  when  you 
are  speaking  than  when  you  are  writing.  This  is 
probably  because  you  are  more  accustomed  to 
express  your  thoughts  orally  than  with  a  pen. 
Ever  since  you  were  small  children  you  have  been 
talking,  and  sometimes  talking  a  great  deal ;  indeed, 
it  is  likely  that  your  parents  sometimes  think  you 
talk  too  much.  And  it  is  easier  to  talk  with  sorhe 
one,  exi^hanging-  experiences  and  opinions  in  con- 
versation, than  it  is  to  stand  before  a  schoolroom 
and  do  all  the  talking  yourself  for  a  number  of 
minutes  at  a  time.  Experience,  however,  is  a 
wonderful  teacher.  Eventually  you  will  be  able 
to  do  this  with  ease  if  you  have  practice  enough, 
and  if  you  organize  your  thoughts  before  you  begin 
to  speak.  The  outline  of  a  composition  given  in 
section  60  was  an  exercise  in  the  organization  of 
thought.  Perhaps  you  have  not  discovered  it, 
but  you  really  do  not  know  how  much  you  know 
about   a   subject   until   you  organize   the   subject 


ii8  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

matter.  Let  us  select  a  subject  that  you  are  sure 
to  know  a  good  deal  about  —  how  you  have  made 
something,  for  example.  A  list  of  possible  topics  is 
given  below,  but,  as  usual,  you  must  consider  them 
suggestive  rather  than  binding;  if  you  can  select 
some  other  subject,  do  so,  provided  only  that  you 
give  an  account  of  how  you  made  something. 

How  I  Made  a  Summer  Dress 

How  I  Made  a  Batch  of  Bread 

How  I  Made  a  Cake 

How  I  Made  a  Hat 

How  I  Made  a  Telegraph  Key  and  Sounder 

How  I  Made  a  Dry  Battery 

How  I  Made  a  Workbench  and  Vise 

How  I  Made  a  Table 

How  I  Made  a  Chair 

Having  chosen  your  subject,  you  should  think 
over  the  matter  of  outline.  In  section  60  a  rather 
full  outline  was  given;  now  you  should  be  able  to 
do  this  part  of  the  work  with  less  help.  The  fol- 
lowing should  be  sufficient;  and  remember  that  it 
is  a  suggestion  to  you  as  to  how  you  may  do  it  - 
not  how  you  must  do  it. 

How  I  happened  to  make  the  thing 

Making  the  design 

Selecting  the  material 

The  place  where  I  did  the  work 

Doing  the  work 

The  help  I  received 

Finishing  the  work 

The  use  to  which  it  was  put 

The  pleasure  it  gave  me 


SUBJECTS   FOR   ORAL   COMPOSITIONS  119 

Each  of  these  topics,  or  whatever  topics  you 
choose,  should  be  fully  dwelt  upon  until  you  have 
told  everything  that  directly  pertains  to  it,  so  that 
when  the  class  offers  criticism  no  one  will  have  to 
say  that  you  left  any  important  thing  untold. 

When  you  have  prepared  your  outlines,  speak 
from  them,  until  every  one  in  the  room  has  spoken. 
This  will  take  several  class  periods,  no  doubt;  but 
it  is  good  practice  and  may  be  continued  for  a 
long  time  with  interest  and  profit. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

119.  After  each  speech,  members  of  the  class 
will  offer  their  opinions  to  the  speaker.  The 
following  points  may  be  of  assistance: 

a.  After  listening  to  the  speaker's  account  of  his  work, 

could  you  make  the  thing  he  made  ?  If  not,  why 
not? 

b.  Did  he  speak  more  fully  on  some  topic  of  his  theme 

than  seemed  necessary? 

c.  Did  he  speak  less  fully  on  some  topic  of  his  theme 

than  he  should  have  spoken? 

d.  Both  these  questions  may  be  summed  up  in  this  one : 

Did  every  topic  have  as  much  attention  as  its 
importance  made  it  deserve?  For  it  must  be 
clear  that  all  the  topics  of  a  composition  are  not 
of  equal  importance.  One,  for  example,  of  the 
titles  given  as  help  in  making  an  outline  in  the 
preceding  section  is  more  important  than  any 
other,  and  should  have  more  emphasis  than  any 
other.  This  is  a  very  important  master,  and 
should  receive  your  careful  attention. 


120  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

e.  Was  the  speaker's  manner  good?  Did  he  stand 
well,  speak  in  an  audible  tone,  and  enunciate  his 
words  well? 

/.  Possibly  the  speaker  used  the  blackboard  to  draw 
figures  with  which  to  illustrate  what  he  was 
speaking  of.     If  so,  was  this  a  help  to  you? 

g.  If  the  speaker  did  draw  on  the  blackboard,  ask  him 
if  this  was  a  help  to  him  in  speaking.  If  he  replies 
in  the  affirmative,  you  may  well  follow  his  example. 

h.  What  mistakes  did  the  speaker  make  in  grammar? 
Look  over  sections  44,  49,  63,  77,  89,  and  11 1  in 
order  to  refresh  your  minds,  and  offer  criticisms 
if  they  are  needed.  And  when  you  speak,  be 
careful  not  to  make  the  same  mistakes. 

i.  It  would  be  well  to  ask  a  speaker  now  and  then 
whether  he  would  have  spoken  more  fully  and  more 
accurately  if  he  had  spoken  more  slowly.  For 
it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  many  people  forget 
what  they  intend  to  say  and  blunder  in  their 
expression  merely  because  they  do  not  compel 
themselves  to  speak  deliberately. 

REVIEW  IN   GRAMMAR 

120.  Along  with  your  composition  you  have  now 
learned  several  important  matters  of  grammar,  and 
it  is  time  for  a  review.  In  order  that  grammar  may 
be  of  the  greatest  service  to  you,  you  should  put  more 
study  upon  sentences  as  they  stand  in  the  paragraph 
than  as  they  stand  alone  as  example  sentences,  for 
when  you  have  a  question  of  grammar  to  decide  in 
your  own  composition,  it  will  be  when  you  are 
writing  a  composition,  not  when  you  are  writing 
single  sentences,  for  you  seldom  do  that.     In  order 


REVIEW  IN  GRAMMAR  121 

to  enable  you  to  have  such  a  study  a  story  is  given 
below,  which  you  will  recognize  as  from  Grimm's 
Household  Tales.  Read  it  over  first  to  enjoy  it,  for 
it  is  a  very  good  story;  the  grammar  study,  in  all 
probability,  will  employ  your  class  time  for  a  week 
or  two.  Some  of  the  sentences  have  been  broken 
up  into  shorter  sentences  in  order  to  simplify  them. 

Why  Beans  Have  a  Black  Seam 

A  poor  old  woman  lived  in  a  certain  village.  She 
once  collected  a  mess  of  beans,  and  was  going  to  cook 
them.  So  she  made  a  fire  on  her  hearth,  and  in  order  to 
make  it  bum  better  she  put  in  a  handful  of  straw.  When 
the  beans  began  to  bubble  in  the  pot,  one  of  them  fell 
out  and  lay  near  a  Straw  which  was  already  there.  Soon 
a  red-hot  Coal  jumped  out  of  the  fire  and  joined  the  pair. 

The  Straw  began  first,  and  said,  ''Dear  friends,  how 
do  you  come  here?" 

The  Coal  answered,  "I  jumped  out  of  the  fire  by  great 
good  luck,  or  I  certainly  should  have  met  my  death.  I 
should  have  been  burned  to  ashes." 

The  Bean  said,  "  I  too  have  come  out  with  a  whole  skin. 
But  if  the  old  woman  had  kept  me  in  the  pot,  I  should 
have  been  cooked  into  a  soft  mass,  like  my  comrades." 

"Nor  should  I  have  met  with  a  better  fate,"  said  the 
Straw.  "The  old  woman  has  turned  my  brothers  into 
fire  and  smoke.  Sixty  of  them  she  took  up  at  once  and 
deprived  of  life.  Very  luckily  I  managed  to  slip  through 
her  fingers." 

"What  had  we  better  do  now?"  asked  the  Coal. 

"I  think,"  answered  the  Bean,  "that  we  have  been 
lucky  to  escape  with  our  lives.  We  had  better  join  in 
good-fellowship  together.  In  order  to  avoid  bad  luck 
here,  we  had  better  go  into  foreign  lands." 


122  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

The  proposal  pleased  the  two  others,  and  forthwith 
they  started  on  their  travels.  Soon  they  came  to  a 
little  brook.  As  there  was  no  stepping-stone  and  no 
bridge,  they  could  not  tell  how  they  were  going  to  get 
across. 

The  Straw  was  struck  with  a  good  idea,  and  said,  "I 
will  lay  myself  across,  so  that  you  can  go  over  me  as  if  I 
were  a  bridge." 

So  the  Straw  stretched  himself  from  one  bank  to  the 
other;  and  the  Coal,  who  was  of  an  ardent  nature, 
quickly  trotted  up  to  go  over  the  new-made  bridge. 
When,  however,  she  reached  the  middle  and  heard  the 
water  rushing  past  beneath  her,  she  was  struck  with 
terror  and  stopped,  and  could  get  no  farther.  So  the 
Straw  began  to  get  burned,  broke  into  two  pieces,  and 
fell  into  the  brook.  The  Coal  slipped  down,  hissing  as 
she  touched  the  water,  and  gave  up  the  ghost. 

The  Bean,  who  had  prudently  remained  behind  on  the 
bank,  could  not  help  laughing  at  the  sight.  Not  being 
able  to  contain  herself,  she  went  on  laughing  so  exces- 
sively that  she  burst.  Now  she  would  have  been  undone 
forever  if  a  tailor  on  his  travels  had  not  stopped  to  rest 
himself  by  the  brook.  As  he  had  a  compassionate  heart, 
he  took  out  a  needle  and  thread,  and  stitched  her  together 
again. 

•  The  Bean  thanked  him  in  her  most  elegant  manner; 
but  as  he  had  sewn  her  up  with  black  thread,  all  beans 
since  then  have  had  a  black  seam. 

121.  First,  go  over  every  sentence  in  the  story 
and  decide  whether  it  is 

affirmative  or  negative, 
declarative  or  interrogative, 
exclamatory  or  non-exclamatory. 


REVIEW  IN  GRAMMAR  123 

Truth  to  tell,  the  sentences  in  the  story  are  pretty 
much  alike  in  these  respects;  you  must  discover  why. 

There  is  one  peculiar  thing,  however,  that  must 
be  explained.  It  concerns  such  sentences  as  the 
one  that  makes  the  second  paragraph.  You  can 
see  plainly  that  here  is  a  sentence  within  a  sentence, 
for  the  part  in  quotation  marks  is  complete  in 
itself,  and  would  stand  alone.  But  here  it  is  a 
group  object  of  ''said."  Now  this  quoted  sentence 
is  affirmative,  interrogative,  and  non-exclamatory. 
But  the  whole  sentence,  of  which  *'said"  is  the 
predicate  verb,  is  affirmative,  declarative,  non- 
exclamatory.  This  raises  the  question  of  end 
punctuation.  Since  the  quoted  sentence  is  inter- 
rogative, an  interrogation  point  is  used,  and  it  is 
placed  before  the  quotation  marks;  that  is,  it  is  a 
part  of  the  quotation. '  You  expect  a  period  after 
a  declarative  sentence,  but  this  is  not  the  case 
when  a  declarative  sentence  ends  with  a  quotation 
that  is  a  question.  If  the  quoted  part  is  declarative, 
the  sentence  ends  with  a  period. 

There  are  several  cases  of  this  latter  sort  in  the 
story,  but  only  two  of  the  former.  You  should 
explain  both  kinds  carefully. 

122.  It  will  now  be  necessary  to  go  over  the 
story,  sentence  by  sentence,  and  determine  what  the 
predicates  and  the  subjects  are.  In  short  sentences 
like  the  first  one,  this  will  be  very  simple;  but  the 
longer  sentences  offer  more  difficulties,  because  some 
of  them  will  seem  to  be  several  sentences  together. 
This  should  not  bother  you;  such  sentences  will  be 


124  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

explained  later:  for  the  present  you  should  pick  out 
the  main  predicates  and  subjects,  and  also  the 
predicates  and  subjects  of  what  appear  to  be  sen- 
tences within  sentences.  For  example,  take  the 
sentence 

"When  the  beans  began  to  bubble  in  the  pot,  one 

of  them  fell  out  and  lay  near  a  Straw  which 

was  already  there." 

The  principal  statement  in  this  sentence  is  "one  of 
them  fell  out  and  lay  near  a  Straw."  The  complete 
subject  of  this  is  "one  of  them,"  and  the  subject 
substantive  is  "one."  The  complete  predicate  is 
"fell  out  and  lay  near  a  Straw,"  and  the  predicate 
verbs  are  "fell"  and  "lay,"  which  are  joined  by 
"and."  If  you  want  to  go  further,  you  may  say 
that  "out"  modifies  "fell"  and  "near  a  Straw" 
modifies  "lay."  There  are  still  two  other  groups 
of  words  that  look  like  sentences;  these  are  "When 
the  beans  began  to  bubble  in  the  pot"  and  "which 
was  already  there."  What  are  the  subjects  and 
the  predicates  of  these  two  groups  of  words? 

In  the  same  way  take  up  each  sentence  by  itself, 
and  wherever  you  find  a  predicate,  determine 
what  its  subject  is.  You  must  be  prepared  to  find 
compound  predicates,  that  is,  predicates  joined  by 
and,  but,  and  so.  Sometimes  these  words  join  a 
group  of  words  containing  subject  and  predicate  to 
another  containing  subject  and  predicate;  but  it  is 
not  important  that  you  take  notice  of  these  at 
present.  You  must  be  prepared  also  to  find  that 
sometimes  the  subject  follows  the  predicate,  as  in 


REVIEW  IN  GRAMMAR  125 

"As  there  was  no  stepping-stone  and  no  bridge,"  in 
which  the  subjects  "stepping-stone"  and  "bridge" 
follow  the  predicate  verb  "was." 

123.  Go  through  the  sentences  again  and  deter- 
mine what  the  objects  are.  This  is  often  very  simple, 
as  in  the  second  sentence,  in  which  "a  mess  of  beans" 
is  the  complete  object  and  "mess"  the  object 
substantive.  The  group  objects  are  more  difficult. 
One  kind,  the  quoted  sentences,  is  more  difficult, 
but  the  quotation  marks  will  help  you.  Another 
kind  is  in  the  seventh  paragraph.  Here  "that  we 
have  been  lucky  to  escape  with  our  lives"  is  the 
object  of  "think."  You  will  notice  that  in  this 
sentence  all  the  quoted  words  are  the  object  of 
"answered"  and  that  "answered  the  Bean"  comes 
between  different  parts  of  the  quotation. 

Do  not  expect  to  find  objects  for  all  the  predicate 
verbs.     Only  transitive  verbs  have  objects. 

124.  Again,  go  over  the  sentences  and  determine 
what  object  substantives  accompany  such  connective 
words  as  in,  of,  and  on.  If  you  can,  determine  what 
such  groups  of  words,  as,  for  example,  "in  a  certain 
village,"  modify.  This  particular  group  of  words 
modifies  "lived,"  because  it  tells  where  the  woman 
lived.  In  the  next  sentence  "of  beans"  is  such  a 
group  of  words,  and  it  modifies  "mess."  Remember 
that  in  all  such  cases  the  object  substantive  follow- 
ing a  connective  word  is  not  of  the  same  rank  as  the 
word  to  which  it  is  joined. 

125.  The  author  seems  to  have  violated  our  rule 
for  the  use  of  capital  letters  by  beginning  Coal, 


126  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Straw,    and   Bean   with   capitals.     But   there   is   a 
reason   for   this.     What  is  it? 

A  PUPIL'S  LETTER 

126.  In  this  section  is  given  a  letter  written  by  a 
boy  in  an  elementary  school.  The  author  has  been 
more  successful  in  expressing  his  joy  in  receiving  the 
gift  of  a  fox  terrier  than  he  has  in  writing  his  sen- 
tences accurately.  His  uncle  will  therefore  be  more 
pleased  with  the  spirit  than  with  the  form  of  the 
letter. 

You  will  notice  two  or  three  differences  between 
the  form  of  this  letter  and  that  of  the  business  letter 
in  section  91.  First,  this  boy  evidently  lives  in  a 
small  town,  where  there  is  no  free  delivery  of  mail, 
for  the  street  and  the  number  are  not  given.  Second, 
the  address  is  not  given,  for  this  is  a  letter  of 
friendship,  not  a  letter  of  business,  and  only  the 
salutation  is  necessary.  Third,  since  this  is  a  letter 
of  friendship  and  people  like  to  get  long  letters  from 
their  friends  as  much  as  business  men  like  to  get 
short  ones  from  their  correspondents,  the  boy  has 
written  a  rather  long  letter — that  is,  for  a  boy. 
Doubtless  the  uncle  would  have  been  pleased  with  a 
much  longer  communication. 

Lawrenceburg,  Ky. 
September  29,  19 13 
Dear  Uncle  Jack, 

Last  Saturday  morning  I  woke  up  and  looked  out 
of  the  window  out  into  the  yard  and  what  do  you 
think  I  saw  it  was  a  little  fox  terrier  puppy  and  believe 


A   PUPIVS  LETTER  127 

me  I  got  into  my  clothes  so  fast  that  my  mother  was 
surprised  to  see  me  get  dressed  so  quickly. 

Then  I  ran  out  in  the  yard  and  saw  in  the  "pup's " 
collar  and  I  read  it  and  saw  that  it  was  from  you, 
Uncle  Jack  and  I  was  so  full  of  joy  that  mother 
thought  some  one  had  left  me  a  gold  mine  and  I  am 
so  glad  that  I  dont  know  how  to  thank  you. 

Affectionately 

Arthur  Henson 

Exercise  in  Grammar 

127.  This  letter  may  be  used  for  a  study  in 
grammar.     Consider  the  following  points: 

a.  Do  you  notice  that  all. the  first  paragraph  appears 
to  be  one  sentence?  The  second  paragraph 
also  is  written  as  one  sentence.  Read  the  para- 
graphs aloud  and  determine  whether  they  should 
be  broken  up  into  two  or  three  sentences  each. 
Do  you  not  think  that  the  second  paragraph  has 
rather  more  and's  than  are  necessary?  What 
will  you  do  about  it? 

h.  In  the  first  sentence  the  word  "out"  appears  twice. 
In  which  case  can  it  be  spared  ? 

c.  There  is  one  place  in  the  letter  where  the  writer 

should  have  used  an  apostrophe.     Find  it. 

d.  What   does    "saw   in   the    'pup's'    collar"    mean? 

It  sounds  bad.     Correct  the  expression. 

e.  What  do  you  think  of  the  punctuation  of  the  com- 

plimentary close? 
/.   If  you  will  look  back  to  the  story  by  Grimm  in 
section  120,  you  will  find  in  the  second  paragraph 
the  words  "Dear  friends."    'These  words  are  an 
address.     Now  when  words  are  used  as  an  address 

10 


128  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

in  a  sentence,  they  are  to  be  set  off  with  commas. 
The  boy  who  wrote  the  letter  in  the  previous 
section  has  used  a  name  as  an  address;  has  he 
punctuated  it  correctly? 

ANOTHER  LETTER 

128.  Here  is  another  letter  that  is  more  apprecia- 
tive than  correct.  When  you  read  it,  you  will 
probably  think  that  dogs  are  the  only  presents 
that  boys  ever  receive. 

Bloomington,  Ind. 
October  27,  19 13 
Dear  Edward, 

I  am  dropping  you  these  few  lines  to  let  you  know 
that  I  received  your  birthday  present  and  I  thank 
you  very  cordially,  for  that  was  just  the  kind  of 
dog  I  want  bully  for  you. 

Before  that  dog  is  very  old  I  will  have  him  trained 
so  well  you  won't  know  him  from  a  circus  dog.  I 
suppose  you  remember  the  dog  that  use  to  pull  the 
cart.  Well,  I  will  have  this  dog  train  far  better  than 
that.  Well,  I  guess  I  will  close  for  this  time,  I  remain 
Very  sincerely  yours 

Robert  Moore 

Exercise  in  Grammar  and  Spelling 

129.  Make  the  following  study  of  the  letter: 
a.  Read  the  letter  aloud  and  determine  whether  or 

not  the  writer  ended  the  sentences  where  he 
should  have  ended  them.  Did  he  do  better  or 
worse  than  the  other  boy  in  this  respect  ?  Deter- 
mine what  the  end  punctuation  should  be. 


SOME  SUBJECTS  FOR  LETTERS  129 

h.  Have  you  discovered  that  the  writer  failed  to  finish 
two  words?     Which  are  they? 

c.  This  writer  used  an  apostrophe  in  one  of  his  words. 

Why? 

d.  It  must  be  confessed  that  the  speUing  of  "received" 

had  to  be  corrected  before  this  letter  was  printed. 
Can  you  tell  when  the  e  comes  before  the  if 

e.  What  do  you  notice  about  the  punctuation  of  the 

-  compHmentary  close  ? 

/".  The  last  sentence  of  the  letter  begins  with  the  word 
"Well,"  and  there  is  a  comma  after  it.  When 
this  word  begins  a  sentence,  it  means  that  the 
writer  is  leaving  one  topic  of  his  discourse  and 
is  passing  on  to  the  next,  as  in  this  case  the  writer 
leaves  the  topic  of  training  the  dog  and  goes  on 
to  say  that  he  will  close.  In  reading  such  a  sen- 
tence the  reader  makes  a  little  pause;  that  is 
why  the  comma  is  used.  You  should  remember 
this,  and  always  use  a  comma  after  well  when  it 
is  the  first  word  in  a  sentence,  unless,  indeed,  it 
modifies  something,  as  in  ''Well  done,'"  remarked 
my  uncle.  In  this  case  there  is  no  pause  after 
"Well." 

g.  The  letter  begins  with  the  statement,  "I  am  dropping 
you  these  few  lines,  etc."  This,  like  "I  take  my 
pen  in  hand,"  is  a  very  absurd  way  of  beginning 
a  letter.  The  other  boy  began  in  a  much  better 
way. 

SOME   SUBJECTS  FOR  LETTERS 

130.  You  have  now  had  examples  of  both  business 
and  social  letters,  and  you  know  that  a  business 
letter  should  be  short  and  to  the  point,  and  that  a 


130  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

social  letter  may  be  rather  long  and  should  be  so 
written  as  to  be  a  pleasure  to  the  person  who  receives 
it.  You  will  now  write  letters  for  a  number  of 
days,  taking  great  care  to  say  just  what  should  be 
said  and  to  say  it  with  accuracy.  You  have  been 
reminded  frequently  that  one  of  your  besetting  sins 
is  the  failure  to  bring  a  sentence  to  an  end  and  to 
begin  again  with  a  capital.  Nothing  will  help  you 
to  overcome  this  fault  so  well  as  the  group  work. 
Some  of  the  letters,  therefore,  should  be  written  as 
you  work  in  groups  at  the  blackboard.  All  of  them 
should  not  be  written  in  groups,  for  you  must 
gradually  acquire  the  habit  of  writing  correctly 
without  any  help  at  all. 

The  subjects  given  below  are  so  selected  that 
whether  you  live  in  the  country,  a  small  town,  or  a 
city  you  will  probably  be  able  to  choose  one  that 
you  will  like,  or  at  least  will  find  some  that  will 
suggest  suitable  subjects  to  you.  In  the  course  of 
several  days  you  will  write  several  letters  of  both 
business  and  friendship. 

It  is,  of  course,  better  if  you  write  letters  that  you 
can  send,  for  then  the  writing  of  the  letter  is  more 
than  a  school  exercise.  However,  that  is  not  always 
possible,  and  most  of  your  letters  will  doubtless  be 
merely  for  school  practice.  .         ^ 

Business  Letters 

131.  a.  Suppose  that  you  are  interested  in  gard- 
ening, or  in  growing  corn,  or  in  raising  mushrooms, 
or  in   keeping   bees.     Write    to    the    Secretary   of 


SOME  SUBJECTS  FOR   LETTERS  13 1 

Agriculture,  Washington,  D.C.,  asking  him  to  send 
you  some  of  the  pamphlets  treating  of  the  subject 
that  you  are  interested  in.  No  charge  is  made ;  thanks 
are  the  only  payment  you  need  make.  If  you  are 
actually  interested  in  one  or  more  of  these  subjects, 
and  intend  to  study  them,  send  the  letter,  and  when 
the  pamphlets  come,  study  them  and,  if  possible,  put 
into  practice  what  you  learn  from  them. 

h.  If  your  school  does  not  receive  the  weather 
reports  from  Washington,  write  letters  to  the  Chief  of 
the  Weather  Bureau,  Washington,  D.C.,  and  request 
that  daily  reports  be  sent  to  you.  In  this  case  only 
one  of  the  letters — the  best  one — should  be  sent. 

c.  Suppose  that  you  are  interested  in  woodwork. 
Find  in  a  magazine  the  advertisement  of  a  firm  or 
a  company  that  sells  tools  for  such  work,  and  write 
a  request  for  a  catalogue.  It  is  clear  that  you  should 
not  send  the  letter  unless  you  intend  to  buy  tools  or 
unless  you  really  want  the  catalogue.  And  if  you 
send  the  letter,  you  should  inclose  two  or  three  stamps 
for  postage.  When  you  get  the  catalogue,  write  an 
order  for  goods — such  as  is  found  in  section  95. 

d.  It  may  be  that  your  father  or  your  mother  has 
need  of  the  catalogue  of  a  mail-order  house  and  is 
willing  to  let  you  write  the  letter.  If  so,  write  it  as 
a  school  exercise  and  send  it  after  your  father  or 
mother  has  inspected  it. 

e.  Suppose  that  you  have  what  you  believe  to  be 
good  reason  for  wanting  to  attend  some  other 
school  than  the  one  which  you  are  now  attending. 
Write  a  letter  to  the  principal  of  your  school,  or 


132  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

perhaps  to  the  superintendent,  asking  that  you  be 
transferred. 

/.  Suppose  that  you  and  some  of  your  friends  wish 
to  estabHsh  a  school  paper.  Write  to  the  principal 
of  your  school,  asking  for  permission  to  do  so,  and 
for  his  assistance  in  arranging  matters  with  the 
printer  or  in  getting  money  to  buy  a  printing  outfit. 

g.  Suppose  that  you  wish  to  play  a  match  game 
of  baseball,  football,  or  basket  ball  with  the  pupils 
of  some  other  school.  Write  a  challenge  to  the 
principal  of  that  school,  or  to  the  captain  of  the  team. 

h.  Suppose  that  you  wish,  in  company  with  other 
schools  in  your  town  or  countryside,  to  have  a  joint 
exhibit  of  the  things  you  have  made  in  your  school 
work — chairs,  tables,  bookcases,  dresses,  aprons, 
and  other  articles.  Write  to  the  principals  of  the 
schools,  asking  that  a  committee  of  teachers  and 
pupils  be  appointed  to  meet  a  committee  of  teachers 
and  pupils  from  your  school  in  order  to  make  the 
necessary  arrangements. 

i.  Suppose  that  you  wish  to  have  a  joint  exhibi- 
tion with  other  schools  showing  what  you  have  done 
in  the  matter  of  gardening  or  farming.  Write  the 
same  kind  of  letter  as  that  called  for  under  h. 

j.  Suppose  that  you  want  to  attend  a  boarding 
school.  Write  to  the  principal,  asking  what  class 
he  will  admit  you  to  and  what  the  expenses  are. 

Social  Letters,  or  Letters  of  Friendship 

132.  a.  Suppose  that  you  have  been  paying  a 
visit  to  one  of  your  friends  at  a  distance.     Write 


SOME   SUBJECTS   FOR   LETTERS  133 

a  letter  showing  your  appreciation  of  the  good  times 
you  had.  Remember  that  such  a  letter  should 
be  rather  long,  for  people  like  to  get  letters  from 
their  friends.  Remember,  too,  that  such  letters 
should  not  be  stiff  and  formal;  they  should  not 
sound  as  if  you  had  to  write  them;  you  should 
write,  rather,  in  the  free  and  easy  way  in  which  you 
would  talk  if  you  were  face  to  face  with  the  person 
to  whom  you  are  writing. 

h.  Suppose  that  you  want  some  good  friend  of 
yours  to  make  you  a  visit  and  to  have  all  the  fun  two 
chums  can  have  after  they  have  not  seen  each  other 
for  a  long  time.     Write  a  letter  of  invitation. 

c.  Suppose  that  you  are  away  on  a  long  journey  or 
a  camping  trip.  .Write  a  letter  to  father  or  mother, 
giving  an  account  of  your  travels  and  adventures. 

d.  Suppose  that  you  have  been  very  successful 
in  making  something  at  home  or  at  school,  and  that 
you  are  eager  to  have  some  friend  of  yours  at  a 
distance  become  interested  in  the  same  or  a 
similar  kind  of  work.  Write  a  letter  showing  what 
you  have  done  and  encouraging  your  friend  to  try 
something  of  the  same  sort. 

e.  Suppose  that  you  once  went  to  school  in  some 
other  town  or  county.  Write  to  some  friend  there, 
comparing  your  present  home,  school,  and  life  in 
general  with  that  which  you  have  left. 

/.  One  of  your  number  might  write  to  the 
superintendent  of  schools  in  some  distant  town 
or  city,  and  ask  him  to  choose  some  one  of  his 
schoolrooms  whose  pupils  will  correspond  with  you 


134  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

about  your  school  life,  your  home  life,  and  the 
life  and  industries  of  your  own  community.  This 
would  afford  each  of  you  an  opportunity  to  cor- 
respond with  some  boy  or  girl  at  a  distance,  and  will 
perhaps  be  a  help  to  you  in  the  study  of  geography. 

A  SPELLING  LESSON 

133.  Some  of  the  business  letters  which  you 
have  written  probably  involved  your  writing  the 
word  principal.  If  so,  some  of  you  were  probably 
corrected  for  misspelling  it,  for  it  sounds  precisely 
like  principle,  which  has  a  very  different  meaning. 
Now  principal  means  chief.  Thus,  the  principal  of 
a  school  is  the  chief  of  the  school ;  the  principal  man 
of  a  town  is  the  chief  man  of  the  town ;  and  when  you 
write  of  principal  and  interest  in  a  problem  in 
arithmetic  involving  the  lending  of  money,  the 
principal  is  the  chief  sum  of  money,  while  the  interest 
is  a  smaller  sum  which  is  paid  for  the  use  of  the 
principal. 

It  is  not  so  easy  to  define  principle;  but  it  generally 
means  a  law  of  action  or  of  conduct.  Thus,  if  you 
should  write  of  a  man  who  was  honest,  you  would 
say  that  he  was  a  man  of  prir^ciple  or  of  good 
principles. 
.  The  following  sentences  illustrate : 

1.  The  principal  of  our  school  is  a  man  of  good 
principles. 

2.  I  make  six  per  cent  on  my  principal. 

3.  That  boy  does  not  understand  the  principles  of 
arithmetic. 


A    SPELLING   LESSON  13  5 

4.  My  principal  food  is  bread  and  butter. 

5.  The  principles  of  composition  are  not  easily  under- 
stood. 

6.  The  principal  principle  of  life  should  be  honesty. 

7.  Wheat  is  our  principal  export. 

Write  sentences  on  the  blackboard,  using  both  of 

these  words.     Be  careful  hereafter  to  spell  them 

correctly. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

134.  Criticize  the  letters  in  the  following  manner : 

a.  Read  your  letters  in  turn  before  the  class.     If  a 

letter  is  one  of  business,  you  should  consider 
whether  tne  writer  said  just  what  the  recipient 
would  need  to  know,  and  whether  he  said  it  in  a 
polite  and  agreeable  way,  so  that  the  recipient 
would  want  to  give  a  favorable  reply.  If  the 
letter  is  one  of  friendship,  you  should  consider 
whether  the  writer  said  what  the  recipient  would 
like  to  know,  whether  he  said  all  the  recipient 
would  like  to  know,  and  whether  everything 
was  said  in  a  free  and  easy  way,  much  as  the 
writer  would  talk  if  he  were  face  to  face  with 
his  friend. 

b.  As  it  is  necessary  to  criticize  the  form  and  accuracy 

of  a  letter  as  well  as  the  subject  matter,  some 
one  will  copy  his  letter  on  the  blackboard.  Or 
perhaps  one  of  the  letters  written  by  a  group 
has  been  left  there.  In  either  case,  the  writer 
will  read  his  letter  aloud  to  the  class  and  give 
them  an  opportunity  to  see  whether  the  form 
is  correct,  whether  the  sentences  are  properly 
ended  and  begun,  whether  the  grammar  is  good, 
and  whether  the  spelling  is  correct, 


136  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

PREDICATE  WORDS 

135.  Read  the  following  sentences: 

1.  **I  am  Hercules." 

2.  "Hercules,  as  you  must  be  careful  to  remember, 
was  a  remarkably  strong  man." 

3.  "My  name  is  Hercules." 

4.  "Brom  Bones,  however,  was  the  hero  of  the  scene." 

5.  "Ichabod  was  a  suitable  figure  for  such  a  steed." 

6.  "Two  frogs  were  neighbors." 

7.  "Necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention." 

What  is  the  verb  in  the  first  of  these  sentences? 
What  is  the  subject  ?  What  word  is  asserted  of  the 
subject?  That  is,  what  word  represents  the  same 
person  or  thing  as  the  subject?  Answer  the  same 
question  in  regard  to  the  other  sentences. 

These  words  are  called  predicate  words,  because 
they  are  predicated  of,  that  is,  asserted  of,  the 
subject.  Like  verbs,  subjects,  and  objects,  they  may 
have  modifiers.  For  example,  in  He  was  a  long, 
slim  man,  "man"  is  the  predicate  word,  and  '*a," 
"long,"  and  "slim"  are  modifiers.  Predicate  words 
may  also  be  in  series,  as  in  That  man  is  a  soldier,  a 
lawyer,  and  a  statesman. 

136.  Write  sentences  containing  predicate  words. 

Exercise  in  Grammar 

137.  Predicate  words  are  not  so  numerous  as 
verbs  and  subjects,  or  even  so  numerous  as  objects. 
Several,  however,  are  to  be  found  in  the  passage 
on  the  opposite  page.  Study  it  for  verbs,  subjects, 
objects,  and  predicate  words.  Modifiers  must 
always  be  determined. 


PREDICATE   WORDS  137 

"His  tongue,  indeed,  was  a  magic  instrument;  some- 
times it  rumbled  like  the  thunder;  sometimes  it  warbled 
like  the  sweetest  music.  It  was  the  blast  of  war,  the  song 
of  peace;  and  it  seemed  to  have  a  heart  in  it,  when  there 
was  no  such  matter.  In  good  truth,  he  was  a  wondrous 
man;  and  when  his  tongue  had  acquired  him  all  other 
imaginable  success, —  when  it  had  been  heard  in  the  halls 
of  state,  and  in  the  courts  of  princes  and  potentates, — 
after  it  had  made  him  known  all  over  the  world,  even  as 
a  voice  crying  from  shore  to  shore, — it  finally  persuaded 
his  countrymen  to  select  him  for  the  presidency.  Before 
this  time,  indeed  as  soon  as  he  began  to  grow  celebrated, — 
his  admirers  had  found  out  the  resemblance  between  him 
and  the  Great  Stone  Face;  and  so  much  were  they  struck 
by  it,  that  throughout  the  country  this  distinguished 
gentleman  was  known  by  the  name  of  Old  Stony  Phiz. 
The  phrase  was  considered  as  giving  a  highly  favorable 
aspect  to  his  political  prospects." 

Hawthorne,  The  Great  Stone  Face 

PREDICATE  WORDS   CONTINUED 

138.  Read  the  following  sentences: 

1.  "She  was  small  and  slight  in  person." 

2.  "They  say  all  Indian  nabobs  are  enormously  rich." 

3.  "Joseph  Sedley  was  twelve  years  older  than  his 
sister  Amelia." 

4.  "But  he  was  as  lonely  here  as  in  his  jungle  at 
Bogley  Wollah." 

5.  "He  was  lazy,  peevish,  and  a  bon-vivant." 

6.  "  'I  must  be  very  quiet,'  thought  Rebecca,  'and 
very  much  interested  about  India.'  " 

7.  "You  will  soon  be  old." 

8.  "Is  not  this  man  worthy  to  resemble  thee?" 

9 .  "  Wherefore  are  you  sad  ? ' ' 


13 S  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

What  is  the  verb  in  the  first  sentence  given  above  ? 
What  is  the  subject?  What  words  are  asserted  of 
the  subject  ?  These  are  also  called  predicate  words, 
but  they  are  of  a  different  kind  from  those  studied  in 
section  135,  because  they  give  a  quality  of  the  sub- 
ject rather  than  assert  identity  with  it.  In  some  of 
the  sentences  there  is  more  than  one  predicate  word. 
In  such  a  case  the  sentence  is  said  to  have  com- 
pound predicate  words.  Where  there  are  only 
two,  they  are  likely  to  be  connected  by  and  or  or; 
where  there  are  three  or  more — that  is,  where  the 
predicate  words  are  in  series — the  last  two  are 
Hkely  to  be  joined  by  and  or  or,  and  commas  are 
used  to  separate  them. 

This  kind  of  predicate  word  also  has  modifiers. 
Thus,  "in  person"  modifies  the  predicate  words  of 
the  first  example  sentence;  and  "enormously" 
modifies  the  predicate  word  of  the  second  example 
sentence. 

Write  some  sentences  containing  both  kinds  of 
predicate  words. 

LINKING  VERBS 

139.  In  the  first  example  sentence  of  section  135 
"Hercules"  is  asserted  of  "I"  by  the  verb  "am"; 
*  *  Hercules ' '  and  "  I "  are  identical.  In  other  words, 
"I"  and  "Hercules"  are  linked  by  "am."  Also,  in 
the  first  example  sentence  in  section  138,  "small 
and  slight"  is  linked  to  "She"  by  "was."  Now  a 
yerb  that  links,  or  joins,  two  words  or  groups  of 
words  is   called  a  linking  verb.     In  the  following 


LINKING    VERBS  139 

sentences  are  further  examples  of  linking  verbs :  The 
apples  taste  good.  The  rose  smells  sweet.  I  feel  had. 
She  seems  well.  He  appeared  to  he  a  soldier.  He 
was  called  an  orator. 

Some  people  think  it  is  correct  to  say  I  feel 
badly.  It  would  be  just  as  correct  to  say  The  apple 
tastes  sweetly  or  The  apple  tastes  sourly.  In  I  feel 
had,  "bad"  is  a  predicate  word  and  is  the  correct 
form.     Badly  is  not  a  predicate  word. 

Exercise  in  Grammar 

140.  In  the  following  passage  consider  sentence 
after  sentence,  and  determine  whether  there  are 
predicate  words  of  the  kinds  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding sections.  Or,  determine  whether  the  verbs 
are  linking  verbs  or  otherwise.  For  example,  in 
the  first  sentence  ''was"  links  ''rich"  to  "who." 

"There  was  once  a  merchant  who  was  very  rich.  He 
had  six  children — three  boys  and  three  girls;  and  as  he 
was  a  man  of  sense,  and  was  anxious  about  the  education 
of  his  children,  he  employed  all  sorts  of  teachers  for  them. 
The  daughters  were  all  handsome;  but  the  youngest  was 
so  very  beautiful  that  when  she  was  a  child  people  called 
her  Little  Beauty,  and  when  she  became  a  young  woman 
the  name  remained  with  her.  On  this  account  her  sisters 
were  very  jealous.  And  this  daughter  was  not  only  more 
beautiful  than  the  others;  she  was  also  better  than  they. 
The  two  older  ones  were  very  haughty  because  they  were 
rich;  they  assumed  the  airs  of  grand  ladies,  and  would 
not  receive  visits  from  the  daughters  of  other  merchants, 
but  sought  the  society  of  the  nobility.  Every  day. they 
went  to  balls,  to  plays,  to  public  promenades,  and  made 


I40  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

fun  of  their  young  sister  who  was  always  busy  reading 
good  books.  As  every  one  knew  how  rich  these  young 
women  were,  many  wealthy  merchants  wished  to  marry 
them.  The  older  ones  always  replied  that  they  never 
wotild  marry  any  one  who  was  lower  in  rank  than  a  duke, 
or  a  count  at  least.  But  Little  Beauty  thanked  the  men 
who  wished  to  marry  her,  and  said  that  she  was  very 
young  and  that  she  wished  to  stay  at  home  with  her 
father  for  a  number  of  years." 

Perrault,  Beauty  and  the  Beast 

CRITICISM  AND  REWRITING  OF  A  COMPOSITION 

141.  The  theme  given  below  was  written  by  a 
pupil,  and  it  has  a  number  of  such  mistakes  as  boys 
and  girls  are  likely  to  make.  Criticize  it  in  as  many 
particulars  as  possible,  and  afterwards  rewrite  it. 

"All  that  was  needed  to  complete  a  grand  thanksgiving 
dinner  was  chestnuts.  Dora  had  made  up  her  mind  that 
it  would  not  be  thanksgiving  without  them.  There  was 
no  use  for  not  having  them  for  just  a  short  distance  away 
from  the  house  was  a  large  spreading  chestnut  tree  which 
was  loaded.  Dora's  mother  had  tried  to  explained  that 
boys  were  too  busy  gathering  pumpkins  and  and  shelling 
com  and  that  father  was  in  town,  but  that  before  milking 
time  they  would  get  her  more  chestnuts  that  she  could 
eat  in  a  week.  It  seemed  to  Dora  that  milking  time  would 
never  come  and  she  sat  down  in  a  chair  feeling  tired  and 
cross  just  stopping  long  enough  to  look  back  and  see  that 
mother  was  not  near.  Over  the  field  she  went,  stumbling 
and  falling  but  never  stopping  to  rest.  At  last  the  tree 
was  in  sight  and  with  glee  she  climbed  the  last  fence  but 
oh,  what  was  the  matter  with  her  ankle.  She  sat  down 
on  the  grass,  the  tears  gathering  in  her  eyes  as  she  looked 


,APP0SITIVE3  141 

back  at  the  little  cottage.  She  could  never  get  home  and 
the  next  day  was  thanksgiving.  With  a  cry  she  covered 
her  face  with  her  hands  and  wept  bitterly.  All  of  a 
sudden  she  opened  her  eyes  and  found  her  father,  mother 
and  her  brothers  all  gathered  around  her  and  all  laughing, 
while  beside  her  was  an  immense  dish  of  chestnuts.  It 
was  a  dream  and  with  a  cry  of  joy  and  many  a  hearty 
laugh  she  promised  to  tell  them  all  on  thanksgiving  while 
sitting  by  the  fire  and  eating  chestnuts,  of  that  dreadful, 
dreadful  dream." 

This  is  a  good  place  to  tell  Thanksgiving  and 
other  holiday  experiences  before  the  class,  and  to 
write  them  if  they  prove  interesting.  Your  work 
should  be  better  than  the  composition  you  have 
just  read. 

APPOSITIVES 
142.  Read  the  following  sentences  carefully: 

1.  "Nell  .  .  .  read  aloud,  in  enormous  black  letters, 
the  inscription,  'Jarley's  Wax- Works.'  " 

2.  "The  first  of  our  society  is  a  gentleman  of  Worces- 
tershire, of  ancient  descent,  a  baronet,  his  name  Sir 
Roger  de  Coverley." 

3.  "The  person  of  next  consideration  is  Sir  Andrew 
Freeport,  a  merchant  of  great  eminence  in  the  city  of 
London." 

4.  "We  have  among  us  Will  Honeycomb,  a  gentleman 
who,  according  to  his  years,  should  be  in  the  decline  of 
his  life." 

5.  "A  jaunty  looking  person,  who  had  come  in  with  the 
young  fellow  they  call  John, —  evidently  a  stranger, — 
said  there  was  one  more  wise  man's  saying  that  he 
had  heard." 


142  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Each  of  these  sentences  contains  what  is  called 
an  appositive.  Thus  in  the  first  sentence,  "Jarley's 
Wax- Works'*  is  an  example.  An  appositive  is  a 
word  or  group  of  words  that  means  the  same  as 
another  word  and  is  not  joined  to  that  word  by  a 
linking  verb.  Since  "Jarley's  Wax- Works"  means 
the  same  as  "inscription"  in  this  sentence,  and  is  not 
joined  to  it  by  a  linking  verb,  it  is  said  to  be  in 
apposition  with,  or  an  appositive  of,  ''inscription." 
But  if  the  sentence  read  The  inscription  was  "  Jarley's 
Wax-Works,''  ''Jarley's  Wax- Works"  would  be  a 
predicate  group  of  words.  You  must  be  careful 
about  this  matter,  for  it  is  one  in  which  students  of 
grammar  sometimes  make  mistakes.  To  use  another 
illustration,  in  Mr.  Wilson,  the  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  formerly  governor  of  New  Jersey, 
"the  president  of  the  United  States"  is  in  apposition 
with  "Mr.  Wilson";  but  if  the  sentence  read  Mr. 
Wilson  is  president  of  the  United  States,  "president 
of  the  United  States"  would  be  a  predicate  group 
of  words,  since  it  is  joined  to  "Mr.  Wilson"  by  the 
linking  verb  "is." 

The  appositive  is  usually  near  the  word  or  group 
of  words  with  which  it  is  in  apposition.  In  fact, 
appositive  means  placed  near.  But  in  some  cases  it 
is  rather  far  away,  as  in  two  of  the  example  sentences 
given  above. 

Study  all  the  sentences  carefully  and  determine 
what  the  appositives  are. 

143.  Appositives  are  usually  set  off  by  commas, 
but  not  always.     For  example,  the  sentence  about 


NOMINATIVE  OF  ADDRESS  143 

President  Wilson  has  an  appositive  construction  that 
is  set  off  by  commas.  But  there  is  a  Mr.  Wilson 
who  is  a  member  of  the  cabinet ;  and  if  any  one  had 
occasion  to  say  of  him,  Mr.  Wilson  the  cabinet  officer 
has  gone  to  New  York,  it  would  not  be  correct  to  set 
off  the  appositive  by  commas,  because  the  appositive 
here  distinguishes  the  cabinet  officer  from  the  pres- 
ident and  we  do  not  pause  when  reading  the  sentence. 
That  is,  if  the  appositive  enables  you  to  tell  which 
one  of  two  or  more  persons  or  things  is  meant,  the 
commas  are  not  used. 

144.  Write  some  sentences  containing  appositives. 
Be  careful  about  the  punctuation. 

NOMINATIVE  OF  ADDRESS 

145.  Read  the  following  sentences: 

1.  "  'I  bless  thee  for  it,  Nell!'" 

2.  **  'For  what,  dear  grandfather?'  " 

3.  "  'Now,  my  men,'  said  the  single  gentleman,  'you 
have  done  very  well.'  " 

4.  "  *I  fear  thee,  ancient  Mariner!'  " 

5.  "  'Be  calm,  thou  Wedding-Guest!'  " 

6.  "  'No,  sir,'  I  said,  'you  need  not  trouble  yourself.'  " 

7.  "  'Precisely  so,  my  dear  sir,'  I  replied." 

Each  of  the  sentences  given  above,  or  some  part 
of  each  sentence,  is  addressed  to  some  one.  When 
the  name  of  the  person  addressed,  or  some  word  or 
group  of  words  designating  the  person,  is  used  in 
such  a  sentence,  the  name,  or  word,  or  group  of 
words  is  said  to  be  the  nominative  of  address.  In 
the  first  sentence  ''Nell"  is  such  a  word. 

11 


144  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

When  you  read  such  a  sentence  you  make  a  pause 
or  a  Httle  jog  of  the  voice  before  and  after  the 
nominative  of  address  if  it  is  within  the .  sentence, 
after  it  if  it  is  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  and 
before  it  if  it  is  at  the  end  of  the  sentence ;  therefore 
commas  must  be  used  at  these  places. 

Study  the  example  sentences  and  determine  what 
words  and  groups  of  words  are  nominatives  of 
address.     Explain  the  punctuation  in  each  case. 

146.  Write  on  the  blackboard  some  sentences 
containing  nominatives  of  address.  Be  sure  to 
punctuate   them   correctly. 

PUNCTUATION   OF  YES  AND  NO 

147.  Yes  and  no  are  words  used  as  answers  to 
questions,  and  they  stand  for  whole  sentences. 
Thus  if  you  say  to  one  of  your  friends,  "Are  you 
coming  to  school  early  to-morrow?"  he  will  answer, 
"Yes,"  or  perhaps,  "No."  If  we  did  not  have  the 
word  yes  in  our  language,  your  friend  would  have  to 
reply,  "I  am  coming  to  school  early  to-morrow," 
or  perhaps  merely  "I  am."  So  also  with  no.  Since 
these  words  are  so  important,  and  stand  out  so 
distinctly  from  the  rest  of  the  sentence  in  which 
they  appear,  they  are  always  set  off  by  commas,  just 
as  appositives  and  nominatives  of  address  are  set 
off.  The  following  sentences  illustrate  the  punctua- 
tion of  all  three  of  these  constructions: 

Mr.  Jones,  the  principal  of  our  school,  said  to  me 
the  other  day,  "George,  aren't  you  studying  too  hard 
this  year?" 


A    STORY  145 

"No,"  I  answered,  looking  down,  for  I  had  hardly 
studied  at  all. 

He  smiled  a  little,  and  said,  "I  thought  so." 

A  STORY 

148.  You  have  perhaps  read  some  of  the  stories 
of  Thor,  the  great  god  of  thunder,  whom  the  ancient 
Scandinavians  worshiped.  Our  word  Thursday 
means  Thor's  day.  Another  one  of  the  gods  was 
Tyr,  or  Tiu,  from  whose  name  we  get  our  word 
Tuesday.  Odin,  or  Woden,  was  the  king  of  them  all. 
Wednesday  comes  from  his  name.  These  gods  and 
all  their  kin  lived  in  a  place  called  Asgard,  from 
which  they  occasionally  went  forth  on  adventure. 
One  of  their  thrilling  experiences  is  given  below. 
Some  one  of  you  will  read  it  aloud  to  the  class ;  and 
if  he  does  not  read  it  slowly,  expressively,  giving 
each  word  its  true  value,  some  one  else  will  try. 

Thor  Borrows  a  Kettle 

The  old  god  Mgir,  who  lived  with  his  wife  apd  their 
nine  beautiful  daughters  in  the  waves  of  the  sea,  once 
went  to  Asgard  to  visit  Odin  and  the  other  divinities 
who  lived  there.  As  he  was  very  well  entertained,  he 
felt  it  necessary  to  invite  them  to  dine  with  him  and  his 
family  in  the  depths  of  the  ocean. 

"Yes,  we  shall  be  glad  to  come,  friend  ^gir,"  said  one 
of  the  ^sir,  or  gods,  "but  you  must  know  that  we  are 
rather  particular  about  our  eating." 

^gir  was  not  offended  by  this  very  plain  speech,  but 
replied  in  good  humor,  "  Oh,  I  have  the  very  best  food  that 
the  sea  affords,  and  you  shall  be  very  well  entertained! 
But  then,"  he  added,  after  a  moment  of  hesitation,  "I 


146  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

am  not  so  sure  about  the  drink.  I  should  have  to  brew 
a  great  deal,  and  my  kettle  is  rather  small." 

Now  Thor  was  not  to  be  cheated  out  of  a  good  dinner 
by  any  such  excuse  as  this,  so  he  said  in  his  big  thundering 
voice,  "Don't  worry  about  that.  I  will  go  to  Hymir 
the  Giant,  and  borrow  the  biggest  kettle  he  has." 

So  he  set  out  at  once,  taking  with  him  Tyr,  the  god  of 
war.  They  rode  along  over  the  mountains  and  valleys 
in  Thor's  goat  chariot,  making  the  fire  fly  from  the  rocks 
wherever  they  touched  them.  They  were  soon  in  the 
giant's  country;  but  not  wishing  to  be  recognized,  they 
left  the  chariot  at  a  hut  and  proceeded  on  foot  until  they 
arrived  at  the  house  itself,  beside  a  great  cold  sea. 

When  the  door  opened  at  their  knock,  they  beheld  an 
old  woman  with  nine  hundred  heads. 

"Don't  be  afraid,  my  friend,"  whispered  Tyr  to  Thor; 
"it  is  only  my  grandmother." 

"What  do  you  want?"  snapped  the  old  woman  with 
all  of  her  mouths. 

"We  want  to  borrow  a  kettle,"  said  Thor. 

Just  behind  the  old  woman  appeared  a  young  and  very 
beautiful  one.  "Come  in,"  she  said.  "But  you  will 
have  to  hide  under  the  kettles  that  hang  on  the  beam  in 
the  hall ;  for  my  husband  is  a  terrible  fellow,  and  he  may 
kill  you  with  the  look  of  his  eye." 

Almost  as  soon  as  they  were  hid,  Hymir  came  in, 
shooting  baleful  glances  into  all  the  comers. 

"We  have  visitors,"  said  his  beautiful  wife  timidly. 
"They  want  to  borrow  a  kettle." 

Then  the  rafters  began  to  split,  for  Hymir's  eyes  were 
flashing  wrath,  and  the  hidden  ones  quailed  as  the 
kettles  were  dashed  to  pieces  all  around  them.  But 
the  young  wife  was  crafty,  and  managed  to  persuade  her 
husband  to  slay  three  oxen  for  supper. 


A  STORY  147 

"Who  can  these  people  be?"  asked  Hymir  of  his  wife 
when  supper  was  over.  "Did  you  notice  that  the  big 
one  ate  two  oxen  himself?  I  shall  have  to  go  fishing 
before  breakfast."    And  he  fell  asleep. 

In  the  morning  when  he  went  down  to  the  sea,  Thor 
followed  and  said  to  him,  "I  am  going  to  help  you  fish, 
my  friend ;  for  I  am  a  great  fisherman  when  the  fishing 's 
good." 

"Get  your  own  bait,  then,"  growled  the  giant. 

So  Thor  cut  off  the  head  of  the  giant's  biggest  ox,  put 
it  on  his  hook,  and  rowed  far  out  to  sea. 

"Don't  go  so  far,"  pleaded  the  giant.  "The  great 
Midgard  snake  lies  in  the  sea  out  here  somewhere,  and 
if  you  get  him  on  your  hook,  what  will  happen  to  us?" 

"Don't  be  afraid,"  said  Thor;  "I  am  not  afraid  of 
him."  And  he  rowed  for  a  long  time,  but  finally  put  up 
his  oars  and  began  to  fish. 

The  giant  fished  too,  and  in  a  little  while  had  caught 
two  whales,  which  flopped  around  noisily  in  the  boat. 

Suddenly  Thor  felt  a  mighty  tug.  He  braced  himself 
and  began  to  pull.  The  sea  was  lashed  into  blood  and 
foam. 

"Don't  you  think  we'd  better  go  back?"  shouted 
Hymir.     "Two  whales  are  enough  for  breakfast." 

"No,  I  don't,"  said  Thor.  He  braced  himself  and 
pulled  and  pulled  and  pulled.  Suddenly  his  feet  went 
through  the  bottom  of  the  boat  and  rested  on  the  bottom 
of  the  sea.  A  great  slimy  head  with  slimy  eyes  rose 
out  of  the  red  and  white  waves. 

"It's  the  Midgard  serpent,"  shouted  the  giant.  "He 
reaches  around  the  world.  He  holds  his  tail  in  his  mouth. 
If  you  pull  him  out,  the  world  will  fall  to  pieces.  Let 
go  the  line!" 

Thor  had  no  thought  of  letting  go.     It  was  his  way  to 


148  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

keep  on  fighting.  But  as  the  serpent's  jaws  were  about 
to  engulf  them,  the  giant  pulled  out  his  knife  and  cut 
the  fishing  line,  and  the  great  snake  sank  back  into  the 
depths  of  the  sea. 

"Take  that,  you  meddler!"  shouted  Thor  in  violent 
rage,  as  he  struck  Hymir  with  Miolnir,  his  hammer,  and 
knocked  him  into  the  seething  waves. 

But  that  finished  the  fishing  sure  enough.  The  giant 
waded  to  shore  carrying  his  two  whales,  while  Thor  rowed 
back;  and  when  he  reached  the  beach,  he  shouldered 
boat,  oars,  and  fishing  tackle,  and  carried  them  home  to 
the  giant's  dwelling. 

They  ate  the  whales  for  breakfast.  Feeling  refreshed 
and  not  quite  so  much  afraid  of  Thor  as  he  had  been  on 
the  sea,  Hymir  threw  down  his  goblet  before  Thor  and 
challenged  him  to  break  it. 

Thor  threw  it  against  floors  and  pillars  and  walls,  but 
he  could  not  even  dent  it.  Then  the  old  woman  slyly 
whispered  to  him  out  of  her  nine  hundred  mouths,  "Throw 
it  against  Hymir 's  head." 

Crash  went  the  goblet  against  the  giant's  head,  and 
broke  into  a  thousand  pieces!  For  the  giant's  head  was 
the  only  substance  that  was  harder  than  the  goblet 
itself. 

"Well,  I  don't  know  who  you  are,"  said  Hymir,  rubbing 
the  sore  spot,  "but  I  will  lend  you  my  kettle.  There  it 
is.  It  is  my  biggest  one,  and  it  is  the  only  one  that  did 
not  break  when  the  beam  fell.     Take  it  and  go,  strangers." 

Tyr  sprang  to  the  kettle  and  tried  to  lift  it.  It  would 
not  budge.     Then  Thor  tried,  but  could  not  move  it. 

"Wait,"  said  Thor.  "I  will  tighten  my  magic  belt, 
Megin-giord.     That  doubles  my  strength." 

Again  he  strained  at  the  kettle,  lifted  it,  and  put  it 
over  his  head  like  a  hat.     It  was  so  big  that  it  almost 


A    STORY  149 

hid  him  as  he  went  rushing  over  mountains  and  valleys; 
it  was  a  mile  deep  and  nearly  as  wide.     Tyr  followed. 

But  the  giant  was  angry  again,  for  when  Thor  had 
lifted  the  kettle  the  house  had  cracked  and  the  floor  had 
been  splintered.  Calling  some  of  his  fellow  giants  from 
all  about,  Hymir  pursued  Thor  and  Tyr,  intending  to 
kill  them. 

Thor,  however,  was  not  dismayed.  Taking  off  the 
kettle,  he  drew  again  his  famous  red-hot  hammer,  which 
would  always  strike  what  he  aimed  at  and  would  always 
return  to  his  hand.  He  threw  it,  and  killed  the  giants 
one  by  one. 

It  must  have  been  a  great  feast  that  the  gods  had 
with  ^gir! 

Study  in  Paragraphing  and  Punctuation 

149.  Some  of  the  story  in  the  preceding  section 
is  conversation.  If  you  will  examine  the  second 
paragraph,  you  will  see  that  it  consists  of  a  quoted 
sentence  and  the  explanation  that  accompanies 
it.  This  is  true  of  all  the  paragraphs  that  con- 
tain conversation.  Conversation  is  not  always 
paragraphed  in  this  manner,  but  it  is  usually  done 
so  in  stories  and  in  the  writing  of  long  conversations, 
and  you  are  advised  to  follow  the  custom.  Study 
the  story  paragraph  by  paragraph,  and  point  out 
what  is  quotation  and  what  is  explanation. 

Yes  and  no  are  both  found  in  the  story,  with 
commas  after  them.  The  word  well  at  the  beginning 
of  a  sentence  is  also  found  in  the  story,  where  the 
speaker  means  that  he  is  going  on  to  another  topic 
from  that  which  has  been  occupying  the  attention 


ISO  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

of  others  and  himself.  The  comma  is  used  here  also. 
A  few  appositives  also  appear,  as  well  as  nominatives 
of  address  and  words  in  series.  Find  them  and 
note  the  punctuation. 

150.  Examine  some  story  book  or  a  story  in  your 
readers,  and  determine  whether  or  not  these  matters 
of  paragraphing  and  punctuating  are  observed  in  it. 
Do  the  work  thoroughly. 

SOME    CONVERSATIONS    WRITTEN    BY    PUPILS 

151.  In  this  section  are  three  conversations 
written  in  an  elementary  school.  The  pupils  en- 
deavored to  recall  something  they  had  heard  or 
read,  and  to  record  it  accurately.  Also,  they  had 
instructions  to  put  each  speech  and  its  accompanying 
explanation  into  one  paragraph,  and  to  punctuate 
with  commas  all  cases  of  yes  and  no,  and  well  when 
it  meant  that  the  speaker  was  going  on  to  a  different 
topic. 

What  Puzzled  Martha 

In  class  the  children  were  learning  the  names  of  impor- 
tant rivers.  "We  have  a  very  important  river  in  the 
United  States,"  said  the  teacher.     "What  is  it?" 

"Mississippi,"  cried  all  the  class. 

"Yes  the  Mississippi  is  called  Father  of  Waters." 

Little  Martha  was  puzzled  by  this  statement. 

Presently  she  said,  "Well  if  the  Mississippi  River  is 
called  the  Father  of  Waters,  why  don't  they  call  it  Mister 
Sippi?" 

Martha's  parents  had  this  remark  put  into  the  Sunday 
paper  under  the  "Bright  Sayings  of  Little  Children." 


SOME  CONVERSATIONS  WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS   151 

Seeking  Help  at  Home 

"Tell  me  some  humorous  conversation,"  said  I  to  my 
mother.     "Something  funny  that  you've  heard." 

"Oh,  I'm  sick  of  this  nonsense,"  was  the  aggravated 
reply.  "You  always  have  to  write  about  something, 
and  there 's  a  thousand  and  one  things  said  and  done  here 
every  minute.  You've  conversed  enough  this  afternoon 
to  write  a  book  while  you  could  have  been  practicing." 

"Well  I  can't  think  of  anything,"  I  whined. 

"Well,"  conscientiously,  "you  can  write  about  Lena 
Brown  when  Janette  told  her  to  come  in  and  get  cleaned 
up  and  she  said  impudently,  '  I  will  if  I  want  to  and  if  I 
don't  I  won't.'  " 

"Yes,  but  that  is  n't  conversation  and  I  can't  make  up 
any." 

"Well,"  in  the  same  manner  of  tone,'  "you  can  write 
about  the  time  her  mother  went  away  and  Janette  made 
a  pudding,  and  when  she  came  from  the  store  the  pudding 
was  half  gone,  and  Lena  declared  it  was  the  rats,  and  that 
she  had  n't  been  in  the  house. 

"Well,"  complainingly,  "that  isn't  what  I  have  to 
have.  It 's  got  to  be  more — er — well  I  can't  just  explain 
it,  but  that  is  n't  just  what  our  teacher  wants." 

"Well,"  angrily,  "I  can't  think  of  anything  else  for 
you  to  write.  Everything  I  do  tell  you,  you  whine  out, 
'Well,  that  is  n't  what  we  have  to  write.'  You  can  write 
about  that.'* 

And  so  I  did. 

What  I  Overheard 

When  going  home  from  school  last  Friday  I  overheard 
two  girls  talking  about  their  lesson. 

"I  think  Miss  D was  awfully  cross  to-day,  don't 

you,  Edna?"  said  Laura  in  an  injured  tone. 


152     '  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

"Rather,  but  then  I  think  the  class  got  no  more  than 
they  deserved." 

"But  I  don't  see  why  she  gets  so  out  of  patience  over 
the  fact  that  we  are  doing  poor  work." 

"  Now  just  look  here  Laura,  don't  you  think  Miss  D 

is  unusually  patient  with  us?  I  am  sure  I  never  would 
be  quite  so  patient.  How  many  times  has  she  told  us 
and  told  us  how  to  correct  those  mistakes  and  how  to 
improve  our  work?" 

"Yes,  that's  so.  Maybe  it  takes  a  good  stiff  scolding 
to  wake  us  up  to  the  fact  that  we  are  lazy,"  replied  Laura 
thoughtfully. 

(Miss  D ,  I  am  sure  once  in  a  while  we  need  just 

such  a  lecture  as  we  received  to-day.) 

Exercise  in  Criticism 
152.  Discuss  the  following  points  in  class: 

a.  Which  of  these  conversations  do  you  think  has  the 

most  humor?     Why? 

b.  You  observe  that  each  one  of  the  conversations  is 

about  something  definite — that  each  has  a  point 
at  the  end.  Is  it  fair  to  say  that  each  of  the 
reporters  wrote  just  enough  to  make  the  point 
, clear,  and  no  more? 

c.  One   of    the    conversations    ends    with   a   sentence 

which  the  reporter  did  not  intend  to  be  humorous, 
but  which  is  the  more  humorous  on  that  account. 
Which  one  is  it  ? 

d.  Consider   them    carefully    and    determine    whether 

they  are  properly  paragraphed. 

e.  As  you  have  already  been  told,  the  writers  were 

cautioned  to  put  a  comma  after  yes  and  no,  and 
after  well  when  the  word  indicated  that  the  speaker 


SOME  CONVERSATIONS  WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS  153 

was  going  on  to  a  somewhat  different  thought. 
Read  the  conversations  through  and  determine 
whether  the  writers  always  obeyed  instructions. 
If  not,  why  not? 

/.  Run  your  eyes  over  the  sentences  rapidly,  and  find 
words  which  have  the  apostrophe  because  two 
words  have  been  contracted  by  the  omission  of  a 
letter.  Which  conversation  has  the  greatest 
number  of  these  contractions? 

g.  Are  there  any  nominatives  of  address  in  the  con- 
versations, and  are  they  set  off  by  commas? 

h.  Study  the  use  of  quotation  marks  and  half  quotation 
marks.  Be  careful  to  explain  precisely  why  the 
latter  are  used.  Did  all  the  writers  always  use 
quotation  marks  when  they  should  have  done  so? 

Two  Misused  Words 

153.  In  these  conversations  there  are  two  mis- 
used words — two  very  frequently  misused  words. 
They  are  awfully  and  aggravated. 

Awful  means  inspiring  awe,  and  awe,  according  to 
Webster,  means  "Dread;  great  fear  mingled  with 
respect."  The  pupil  who  wrote  ** awfully  cross" 
did  n't  mean  precisely  that,  but  she  was  nearer 
right  in  the  use  of  the  word  than  are  those  people 
who  say  "awful  pretty"  or  "awfully  good,"  for 
perhaps  a  little  dread  had  been  aroused  by  the 
teacher's  reproof,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  pupil 
respected  the  teacher.  People  who  frequently  say 
"awful"  simply  mean  very.  Hereafter  when  you 
mean  very,  say  very.  You  will  seldom  need  the 
word  awful. 


154     .  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Aggravate  means  to  make  worse.  Thus  you  may 
say,  "My  mother's  anger  was  aggravated  by  my 
reply,"  or  "My  father's  illness  was  aggravated  by 
worry  over  his  business"  ;  but  the  pupil  who  wrote 
"aggravated  reply,"  meant  angry  reply.  She  did 
not  mean  a  reply  that  had  been  made  worse;  that 
certainly  would  be  nonsense. 

The  two  words^  are  used  correctly  in  the  following 
sentences : 

1 .  The  awful  effect  of  war  is  known  only  to  those  who 
have  seen  a  battle  field. 

2.  We  had  not  been  two  days  at  sea  when  an  awful 
storm  overtook  us. 

3.  The  king's  annoyance  was  aggravated  by  the  queen's 
unruly  temper. 

4.  My  little  brother's  unpleasant  moods  are  aggravated 
by  the  petting  he  receives. 

All  Right 

154.  Some  of  the  compositions  in  this  book  orig- 
inally contained  "alright,"  which  many  people  think 
is  a  word.  If  you  think  there  is  such  a  word,  try 
to  find  it  in  the  dictionary;  and  when  you  have 
convinced  yourselves  that  no  such  word  exists, 
resolve  never  to  write  it  again.  In  the  next  compo- 
sition exercise  you  may  have  occasion  to  use  the 
expression  all  right;  if  you  do,  be  sure  to  make  two 
words  of  it. 

REPORTING  A  CONVERSATION 

155.  Very  often  in  your  talks  with  your  friends  you 
report  a  conversation  which  you  have  heard.     It 


REPORTING  A    CONVERSATION  155 

may  be  a  talk  at  the  breakfast  table;  it  may  be  a 
talk  on  the  playground;  or  it  may  be  a  talk  with 
your  teacher.  Try  to  recall  some  such  conversation, 
just  as  the  pupils  did  whose  conversations  are  given 
in  section  151.  Then  write  it  down  with  care, 
paragraphing  and  punctuating  as  you  go. 

This  is  a  good  place  to  say  again  that  you  should 
do  your  best  to  finish  all  your  composition,  including 
punctuation,  as  you  write.  Some  people  write 
first  and  punctuate  afterwards.  This  is  not  a  good 
thing  to  do.  One  reason  is  that  if  you  let  the 
punctuation  go  until  you  have  finished  writing,  you 
will  end  by  neglecting  it  altogether.  Another  reason 
is  that  if  you  ever  learn  to  use  a  typewriter,  you 
then  must  punctuate  as  you  write,  for  to  put  the 
marks  in  afterwards  would  be  a  waste  of  time  and 
would  be  very  difficult  besides.  So  it  is  best  to  form 
the  habit  of  finishing  your  work  as  you  write. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

156.  Some  of  you  will  read  before  the  class  the 
conversations  you  have  written,  so  that  the  class 
may  judge  them.  You  will  in  all  probability  find 
that  some  of  them  are  mere  fragments,  that  is,  con- 
versations that  do  not  seem  to  be  about  anything 
in  particular.  Others  will  seem  to  be  complete,  like 
stories.  Perhaps  they  will  be  little  stories;  they 
will  have  some  definite  point  and  leave  you  in  a 
satisfied  state  of  mind  when  you  have  heard  them 
read. 

Again,  let  some  of  the  conversations  be  copied  on 


156  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

the  blackboard,  so  that  the  class  may  pass  judgment 
upon  them  in  the  following  particulars : 

a.  The  end  punctuation  of  the  sentences. 

b.  Writing  each  speech  and  its  explanation  in  one  para- 

graph. 

c.  The  use  of  quotation  marks. 

d.  The  use  of  the  comma  after  yes  and  no. 

e.  The  use  of  the  comma  after  well  when  it  means  that 

the  writer  is  passing  on  to  a  somewhat  different 
topic. 

f.  The  use  of  the  apostrophe  in  such  contractions  as 

don't. 

g.  The  punctuation  of  nominatives  of  address,  and  of 

appositives  when  they  are  read  with  slight  pauses. 
h.  SpelHng. 

i.   Indentation  of  first  lines  of  paragraphs. 
/.   Good  grammar. 

Group  Work 

157.  For  several  days  write  conversations  at  the 
blackboard  according  to  instructions  given  in  section 
155.  Incidents  that  have  fun  in  them  are  always 
enjoyable.     Learn  to  select  subjects  for  yourselves. 

STUDY  OF  A  PICTURE 

158.  On  the  opposite  page  is  a  picture  of  some 
children  and  a  donkey.  Answer  the  following 
questions  about  it: 

a.  Something  of  interest  is  going  on;  which  one  of  the 

children  is  the  ringleader?     How  do  you  know? 

b.  The  scene  is  in  the  country.     Do  all  of  the  children 

live  in  the  country? 


«*oo#       1 


STUDY   OF  A    PICTURE  IS7 

c.  Which  of  the  children  are  enjoying  the  situation? 

Which  ones  are  not? 

d.  Does  it  seem  likely  that  one  of  those  who  disapprove 

is  going  to  do  something  about  it?     What? 

e.  Can  you  guess  what  may  be  the  outcome  of  the 

adventure  ? 
/.  If  a  story  were  made  from  the  picture,  what  title 
might  it  have?  Of  course  you  may  not  all  have 
the  same  idea  about  the  outcome;  and  it  follows 
that  you  may  not  all  choose  the  same  title.  A 
title,  of  course,  should  fit  the  story. 

Writing  and  Reading  Stories 

159.  Take  a  class  period  to  write  the  story  of  the 
picture.  The  next  day  find  out  who  has  done  the 
work  well.  Several  of  you  will  read  before  the  class 
what  you  have  written,  and  the  rest  will  answer  the 
following  questions: 

a.  Who  gave  the  best  description  of  the  scene? 

b.  Who  made  you  feel  the  most  interest  in  the  char- 

acters of  the  story? 

c.  Who  wrote  the  best  train  of  events  that  brought 

the  story  to  a  satisfying  end? 

It  is  quite  possible  that  no  one  in  the  class  suc- 
ceeded in  making  a  real  story,  such  as  you  read  in 
books.  For  such  stories  come  to  an  end  that 
satisfies  everybody  who  reads  them.  To  do  this 
requires  practice  and  skill.  You  can  learn  to  do 
better  next  time  by  helping  some  one  now.  Select 
one  of  the  stories  that  were  read  and  have  a  conver- 
sation in  class  about  it ;  try  to  suggest  to  the  author 
a  chain  of  events  leading  up  to  an  outcome  that 


15S  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

will  be  surprising.  If  you  succeed  pretty  well,  it 
will  be  a  good  exercise  to  write  the  story  over 
again,  and  afterwards  to  read  the  stories  aloud  to 
see  who  has  done  best. 

SOME  PLAYS  WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS 

160.  This  section  contains  several  little  plays 
written  by  pupils  in  an  elementary  school.  One  of 
the  plays  is  a  girl's  understanding  of  what  she  saw^ 
at  a  moving-picture  show.  She  did  n't  know  it 
was  one  of  Shakespeare's  plays.  You  can  find  it,  if 
you  look,  in  Lamb's  Tales  from  Shakespeare,  and 
can  judge  whether  the  girl  did  her  work  well  or  ill. 
Another  one  of  the  plays  was  written  from  memory, 
the  pupil  who  wrote  it  having  seen  it  acted  by 
amateurs  at  a  settlement  house.  The  others  are 
written  from  pictures. 

The  different  parts  are  to  be  assigned  to  different 
members  of  the  class,  who  are  to  read  them  expres- 
sively; and  after  all  are  read  you  are  to  try  to 
determine  which  one  came  from  the  moving-picture 
show,  which  one  came  from  an  amateur  play,  and 
which  ones  were  written  from  pictures. 

Father  Puts  the  Children  to  Bed 

Characters 
Henry  and  Henrietta,  twins,  aged  six 
Fred  and  Frieda,  twins,  aged  four 
Millie,  aged  two 
Father 

Father 

Come  children!  time  to  go  to  bed.     It's  seven  o'clock. 


SOME  PLAYS  WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS  i^g 

Frieda 
Who's  going   to   put  us  to   bed?     Mother's   at   the 
suffragette  meeting. 

Father 
I  am.  Who  do  you  think?  Come  here  girls  and  let 
me  help  you  put  your  night-clothes  on.  {Gets  the  girls 
ready  for  bed.)  Now  you  girls  go  into  the  room  and  get 
into  bed.  Come  here  boys,  your  turn  next.  {Fred  begins 
to  cry.)    What  is  the  matter? 

Fred 
You  don't  do  it  the  way  mother  does.     She  does  it 
this  way.     {Shows  him  how.) 

Millie 
Oh,  father!     It  is  so  dark  in  here.     I'm  coming  out 
there.     {Comes  out.) 

Father 
Now  if  you  children  don't  go  to  bed  I  '11  spank  you.     I 
don't  see  why  mother  could  n't  stay  home  where  she 
belongs. 

Frieda  comes  running  out  of  the  bedroom.        / 

Frieda 
Oh,  I  saw  something  move  under  the  bed. 

Fred 
It  was  only  me. 

Father 
Fred  you  come  here.     You  children  are  enough  to 
drive  a  person  crazy.     {Gives  Fred  a  spanking.     Children 
to  bed.) 
Half  an  hour  later. 

Father 
Well,  thank  goodness!    They  are  in  bed  and  asleep 
12 


i6o  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

at  last.     Don't  sec  why  mother  could  n't  stay  home  and 
do  it  herself. 

The  Bright  Little  Squirrels 

On  an  Autumn  day  two  little  squirrels  Nimble  and 
Quickfoot  run  up  and  down  the  big  nut  tree.  It  is  late  in 
the  season  and  they  are  laying  up  their  store  of  nuts  for 
winter. 

Nimble 

Come  Quickfoot.  You  know  this  Saturday  and  the 
boys  will  be  sure  to  come  nutting.  We  shall  have  to 
be  very  busy  to  get  our  share  of  nuts. 

Quickfoot 
{Has  his  cheeks  full  of  nuts,  so  he  nods  his  head  and 
shakes  his  busy  tale  as  he  runs  up  and  down  the  tree  carrying 
nuts.)     Hurry  Nimble!     I  saw  some  boys  coming  with 
bags.     We  know  what  that  means. 

Nimble 
Ha,  ha!     The  boys  won't  find  any  nuts  on  this  tree. 
We  have  just  cleaned  this  tree. 

When  the  boys  reach  the  tree  there  are  no  nuts. 

John 
I  do  believe  the  squirrels  have  carried  off  all  the  nuts. 
It 's  a  shame. 

Both  squirrels  run  up  the  tree.  They  hear  what  the  boys 
say. 

Nimble 
I  dont  think  its  a  shame.     We  are  getting  nuts  for 
winter. 

Jack 
I  will  set  a  trap  and  catch  the  squirrels  that  take  away 
the  nuts. 


SOME  PLAYS   WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS  i6i 

QUICKFOOT 

{Feeling  a  little  frightened.)  We  shall  have  to  keep  our 
eyes  open  when  they  bring  the  trap.  We  shall  know 
enough  not  to  be  caught. 

Both  run  to  another  tree.     The  hoys  set  the  trap. 

John 
Now  is  a  good  time  to  set  it.     The  squirrels  are  not 
here. 

Nimble 

(Running  down  the   tree.)     Look!     What   is   that.     A 
box!     Come  lets  see  what  is  inside. 
They  both  look  in  and  get  caught. 

QuiCKFOOT 

Oh,  dear!  This  is  the  trap  the  boys  were  talking 
about.  We  said  we  should  not  get  caught,  yet  here 
we  are. 

They  hear  a  noise  outside.  A  man  walks  up  and 
examines   the  trap. 

Man 

Why!  Here  is  Jack's  trap.  I  shall  tell  him  not  to 
set  it  again.  I  hear  something  inside.  I  will  look  in 
and  see.  {He  lifts  the  door  and  both  squirrels  run  out.) 
I  will  have  the  boys  burn  up  the  trap.  They  shall  not 
use  it  again.     {Man  goes  away  with  the  trap.) 

QuiCKFOOT 

I  think  we  have  enough  nuts  for  winter.  Let  the  boys 
have  the  rest. 

Nimble 

All  right.  The  man  was  so  kind  to  us,  I  think  we 
ought  to  thank  him.  Let  them  have  the  rest  of  the 
nuts. 

They  run  to  their  hole  in  the  tree. 


i62  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

King  Lear 

Characters:     A  king  and  his  three  daughters 

ACT  I 
King 

I  am  growing  old.  I  would  like  to  know  how  each  of 
you  loves  me,  so  that  I  may  share  my  kingdom  among 
you. 

Oldest  Daughter 
Oh,  father!     I  love  you.     There  isnt  another  thing  I 
love  so  much. 

Second  Daughter 
Oh,   father!     I  love   you.     There  isnt  another  thing 
that  I  love  and  honor  as  I  do  you. 

Youngest  Daughter 
I  love  you  as  a  daughter  loves  a  father,  not  more,  not 

less. 

King 

(Angry  with  this  daughter  for  her  answer.)  I  will  give 
my  kingdom  to  my  two  oldest  daughters.  To  you  I 
shall  give  nothing.     I  never  want  to  see  your  face  again. 

ACT  II 

King  at  palace  of  eldest  daughter 

King 

I  can't  stay  here  any  longer  for  the  wicked  deeds  you 

do  to  my  servants  and  me.     (To  servant.)     Go  and  tell 

my  second  daughter  I  am  coming  to  live  with  her.     (They 

go.) 

Oldest  Daughter 

I  am  glad  he's  gone.  My  sister  will  treat  him  still 
worse. 


SOME  PLAYS  WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS  163 

ACT  III 

At   the   second   daughter's   palace.     The   king   and   his 
servants  have  arrived. 

King 

Come  all !  We  will  find  refuge  here.  She  is  very  kind. 
{To  servant.)  Go  tell  my  daughter  that  her  father  the 
king  is  here. 

The  daughter  comes  to  the  gate  to  meet  him. 

Second  Daughter 
(Aside.)     Oh,  I  dont  want  him  here.     He  shall  stay 
only  a  few  days.     I  have  no  room  for  him  and  his  servants. 
He  is  old  and  will  be  a  trouble  to  me.     I  will  put  him  out 
and  lock  the  gates. 

ACT  IV 

Out  in  the  storm 
King 
Yes,  now  I  see!     My  youngest  daughter  would  not  be 
cruel.     She  could  not  chase  me  out  into  the  storm.     Oh, 
how  cold  it  is! 

Servant 

Come!  Look  at  the  storm!  How  it  thunders!  Get 
into  the  carriage,  quick!  Let  us  go  to  your  youngest 
daughter.  Perhaps  she  will  give  us  shelter  from  the 
storm. 

King 
Then  let  us  go. 

ACT  V 

At  the  youngest  daughter's  house 
Youngest  Daughter 
{To  servant.)     Ah,  my  father!     My  heart  is  aching  to 
see  my  father.     {She  runs  quickly  down  the  steps.) 

Welcome,  father!    Welcome!    At  last  you  have  come 


i64  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

to  see  nie.  Come  in  out  of  the  storm.  I  wish  you  would 
come  and  live  with  me  always.  My  dear  father!  How 
glad  I  am  to  see  your  face  once  more. 

King 
And  how  glad  I  am  to  see  yours !     I  know  you  love  me 
best.     I  made  a  mistake  in  judging  your  answers.     Now 
I  see  you  love  me  as  a  daughter  should.     Never  shall  we 
part  again,     {They  embrace.) 

The  Conversation  over  Nothing 

Characters:    Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  and  son  Willie 
Mrs.  White 

{To  Mr.  White,  who  has  just  entered.)  Well!  I  am 
certainly  glad  you  got  home.  I've  been  in  such  a 
condition.  Upset  ever  since  three  o'clock.  I've  almost 
gone  out  of  my  mind. 

Mr.  White 

Now  stop  that  driveling  and  get  down  to  facts.  What 
is  the  matter. 

Mrs.  White 

{Clasping  her  hands.)  Oh,  isn't  that  just  like  you! 
Not  a  spark  of  feeling.  Just  "facts"!  Well,  well! 
What  happened  to  him  can  be  laid  to  your  door.  {Mr. 
White  angrily  approaches  eight  year  old  Willie.)  Don't 
come  near  him!  The  child  is  in  a  serious  condition. 
He  has  been  through  enough  to-day.  But  just  let  me 
say  this — you  were  the  one  who  made  him  go  to  the  public 
school,  weren't  you?  I  wanted  to  send  him  to  private 
school,  did  n't  I?  And  you  said,  "No!  My  son  is  going 
to  be  educated  with  the  people."     Did  n't  you? 

Mr.  White 
{Gravely.)     I  certainly  did. 


SOME  PLAYS   WRITTEN  BY   PUPILS  165 

Mrs.  White 
Ha!     Thats  all  I  wanted  you  to  acknowledge.     Now, 
Willie  darling,  tell  your  father  what  happened  to  you  in 
public  school  to-day. 

Willie 

The  doctor  came  around. 

Mr.  White 
The  doctor !     Oh  yes !     Well  ? 
Willie 
{Angrily.)     And  he  examined  me. 

Mr.  White 
That's  nice. 

Mrs.  White 
What!     Have   a   doctor   who   examines   hundreds   of 
other  children  examine  our  Willie? 

Mr.  White 
If   he   confined   his   examinations   to   our   Willie,    his 
opinions  would  n't  be  worth  much.     Besides — 

Mrs.  White 
Willie  darling,  tell  father  just  how  the  doctor  examined 
you,  dear. 

Willie 
He  came  in  and  he  stood  by  the  window,  and  we  all 
had  to  march  round  in  a  line  and  walk  in  front  of  him, 
and  he  examined  us,  and  he  pulled  our  eyelids  off  our 
eyes  and  looked  — 

Mr.  White 
Pulled  your  eyelids  off  your  eyes ! 
Mrs.  White 
Oh,  dont  be  so  particular!     He  meant — pulled  them 


i66  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

down,  of  course.     (Kissing  Willie  to  give  him  courage.) 
Go  on  darling. 

Willie 
And  then  he  gives  our  necks  a  fierce  pinch  and  that 
made  our  mouths  fly  open,   an  he  shoved  a  stick  all 
covered  with  cracked  glass  down  our  mouths  and  exam- 
ined our  tongues. 

Mrs.  White 
Now  what  do  you  think  of  that?     Theres  your  public 
school  for  you! 

Mr.  White 
Oh,  whats  he  talking  about?     How  could  a  stick  be 
covered  with  glass? 

Willie 
Well,  it  was  something  that  scratches.     And  he  said 
I  got  to  be  vaccinated  and  may  be  I  got  to  wear  eyeglasses 
some  day. 

Mrs.  White 
There,  now!     What  do  you  thing  of  that?     A  public 
school  doctor  telHng  our  child  to  be  vaccinated  and  wear 
eyeglasses ! 

Willie 
He  says  when  I  get  old,  ma.     From  the  looks  of  my 
eyes  now  I  c'n  go  without  them  till  I  am  ninety  or  one 
hundred. 

Mr.  White 
(Breaking  into  uproarious  laughter.)     And  this  is  what 
all  the  fuss  was  about?    As  far  as  I  can  see  he  is  taken 
care  of  better  than  ever  in  his  life  in  public  school. 

Mrs.  White 
Of  course  you'd  turn  everything  so  that  it  seems  right 
from  your  point  of  view. 


SOME  PLAYS   WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS  167 

Mr.  White 

{To  stop  the  argument.)     Willie,  go  wash  your  face  and 
hands  before  we  go  to  dinner. 

Mrs.  White 
{Hastily.)     He  cant.     I've  got  him  all  sterilized,  and 
I  don't  want  him  to  wash  in  such  plain  water. 

Mr.  White 
{Astonished.)     SteriHzed?    What  for? 

Mrs.  White 
Well,  if  you  think  I  'm  not  going  to  steriHze  my  child 
after  a  public  school  doctor  has  handled  him,  youre  very 
much  mistaken? 

Mr.  White 

{Throwing   up   his   hands   in   despair.)     And  we  send 
missionaries   to   Africa. 

Criticism  of  the  Plays 
i6r.  After  reading  the  plays  aloud  and  judging 
where  they  came  from,  you  will  do  well  to  devote 
some    time    to    criticizing    them.     The    following 
particulars  should  be  considered: 

a.  Is  each  one  of  the  plays  a  complete  thing?  That  is, 
has  each  one  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end? 
Or,  to  put  the  question  another  way,  has  each  one 
an  interesting  point  at  the  end  to  which  the  .whole 
story  tends? 
h.  If  you  find  that  any  one  of  the  plays  that  you  are 
discussing  has  such  an  interesting  point  at  the 
end,  determine  whether  the  writer  has  said  enough 
to  make  the  point  very  clear  and  forcible.  Which 
play  is  the  best  in  this  respect? 
c.  Here  and  there,  along  with  the  speeches,  you  will  find 


i68  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

stage  directions,  as  they  are  called,  printed  in 
italics.  "Gets  the  girls  ready  for  bed,''  in  the  first 
play,  is  an  example.  Consider  whether  there  are 
enough  of  these  in  each  play  to  make  the  story  per- 
fectly clear.     If  not,  where  would  you  insert  others  ? 

d.  In  addition,  study  the  plays  sentence  by  sentence  to 

determine  whether  the  writers  have  always  (i) 
used  the  correct  end  punctuation,  (2)  put  the 
apostrophe  in  contracted  words,  and  (3)  set  off 
appositives,  names  of  persons  addressed,  and  well 
with  commas.  Are  any  words  omitted?  What 
other  mistakes  do  you  discover? 

e.  In  which  respect  do  you  think  these  plays  are  better 

— in  substance  or  in  form?  That  is,  in  the  actual 
stories  themselves  or  in  the  accuracy  with  which 
they  are  written? 

INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  WRITING  PLAYS 

162.  Having  read  and  criticized  some  plays,  you 
should  now  write  plays  for  yourselves.  The  question 
is,  where  to  get  the  stories?     Some  hints  follow: 

a.  Use  some  story  you  have  read  or  heard. 

b.  Make  a  play  from  one  of  the  pictures  in  the  book. 

c.  Make  a  play  from  some  picture  you  have  seen  in 

a  book  or  on  the  cover  of  a  magazine. 

d.  Think  of  some  incident  in  your  own  experiences, 

and  change  it  enough  to  make  a  play  with  a  sur- 
prising outcome. 

You  will  need  some  help  in  determining  the  form 
of  your  manuscript.  Follow  the  instructions  given 
below : 

a.  Underline  the  title. 

b.  Write  the  list  of  characters  below  the  title. 


CLAUSES  169 

c.  Write  a  brief  description  of  the  scene,  below  the 

list  of  characters. 

d.  Write  the  name  of  the  speaker  in  the  middle  of  the 

page;  give  each  name  a  whole  line  to  itself  and 
draw  two  lines  under  it. 

e.  Do   not   use   quotation   marks   unless    one   of   the 

speakers  quotes  somebody  else.  A  play  is  different 
from  a  story  in  this  respect. 

/.  The  stage  directions  must  be  underlined  once.  If 
they  occur  within  a  speech  rather  than  before  it 
or  after  it,  they  must  be  underlined  once  and 
inclosed  within  parentheses. 

g.  If  a  play  has  more  than  one  scene,  such  headings  as 
Scene  I  and  Scene  II  must  be  used,  and  a  descrip- 
tion must  be  given  under  each.  If  the  second  and 
other  scenes  are  in  the  same  place  as  the  first,  write 
The  Same  instead  of  repeating  the  description. 

Criticism  of  the  Plays 

163.  Exchange  plays  and  judge  them  as  you  did 
those  printed  in  the  book.  At  least  one  should  be 
copied  on  the  blackboard  and  criticized  carefully. 
Perhaps  you  will  find  one  or  two  that  will  be  suitable 
for  the  school  paper.  Perhaps  one  will  be  so  good 
that  some  of  you  would  like  to  learn  the  words  and 
act  the  play  before  the  class. 

CLAUSES 

164.  Read  the  following  groups  of  words: 

1.  "if  you  would  only  spare  my  life" 

2.  "that  the  lion  was  caught  by  some  hunters" 

3.  "when  the  mouse  piteously  entreated" 

4.  "of  whom  he  earnestly  besought  his  life" 


170  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Each  one  of  these  groups  of  words  has  a  verb. 
What  is  it?     Each  has  a  subject.     What  is  it? 

Do  you  not  see  that  ahhough  each  group  has  a 
verb  and  a  subject,  not  one  is  complete,  that  is, 
not  one  expresses  a  complete  thought?  Each  one, 
indeed,  must  become  a  part  of  a  sentence  in  order 
to  have  any  meaning.     Thus 

1.  "If  you  would  only  spare  my  life,  I  would  be  sure 
to  repay  your  kindness." 

2.  "It  happened  shortly  after  this  that  the  lion  was 
caught  by  some  hunters." 

3.  "He  caught  him  and  was  about  to  kill  him,  when 
the  mouse  piteously  entreated." 

4.  "A  bat  falling  upon  the  ground  was  caught  by  a 
weasel,  of  whom  he  earnestly  besought  his  life." 

The  meaning  of  these  groups  of  words  is  now  clear 
and  certain.  It  is  seen  that  each  of  them  depends 
upon  the  rest  of  the  sentence  for  its  meaning.  Such 
groups  of  words  are  called  subordinate  clauses,  or, 
sometimes,  dependent  clauses. 

The  main  parts  of  the  sentences,  that  is,  *'I  would 
be  sure  to  repay  your  kindness,"  "It  happened 
shortly  after  this,"  "He  caught  him  and  was  about 
to  kill  him,"  and  "A  bat  falling  upon  the  ground 
was  caught  by  a  weasel,"  are  called  principal  clauses. 

Sometimes  there  are  two  subordinate  clauses  that 
are  joined  by  connective  words,  as  in  the  following 
sentence:  If  the  water  is  warm  enough,  and  if  the 
other  boys  will  go,  I  will  go  swimming  to-morrow. 
Again,  there  may  be  three  or  more  subordinate 
clauses,  thus:  //  the  water  is  warm  enough,  if  the 


CLAUSES  171 

other  boys  will  go,  and  if  mother  does  nH  object,  I  will  go 
swimming  to-morrow.  In  these  cases  the  subordinate 
clauses  are  separated  by  commas;  they  are  in  series. 

165.  What  do  you  notice  about  the  punctuation 
of  the  example  sentences  in  section  164?  Are  all  the 
subordinate  clauses  separated  by  commas  from  the 
principal  clauses  ?  How  do  you  account  for  the  dif- 
ference ?  Read  the  sentences  aloud  in  a  very  natural 
manner,  and  determine  whether  your  manner  of 
reading  explains  anything. 

166.  Reconsider  a  composition  previously  written, 
and  determine  what  sentences  -have  subordinate 
clauses.     Read  some  of  them  aloud  in  class. 

Exercise  in  Grammar 

167.  In  the  passage  that  follows,  consider  whether 
the  principal  clauses  are  accompanied  by  sub- 
ordinate clauses,  and  if  so,  by  how  many.  Tell 
what  are  the  predicates  and  subjects  of  both  kinds 
of  clauses.  Note,  however,  that  subordinate  clauses 
may  begin  with  other  words  than  those  that  begin 
the  subordinate  clauses  in  the  example  sentences 
of  section  164.  Some  of  these  connective  words  are 
if,  as,  where,  why,  while,  after,  though,  although,  so 
that,  who,  and  which. 

"There  was  once  a  gentleman  who  married  for  his 
second  wife  the  proudest  and  haughtiest  woman  that 
was  ever  seen.  She  had  two  daughters  who  were  of  her 
temper,  and  who  were,  in  fact,  just  like  her  in  every  way. 
The  husband  also  had  a  daughter,  who  was  sweet  and 
good  beyond   example. .  She  inherited   her   disposition 


172  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

from  her  mother,  who  had  been  the  very  best  woman  in 
all  the  world. 

"The  wedding  was  hardly  over  when  the  stepmother 
flew  into  a  violent  passion :  she  could  not  endure  the  good 
qualities  of  the  young  girl,  because  they  made  her  own 
daughters  appear  the  more  detestable.  So  there  were  put 
upon  the  child  the  most  unpleasant  duties  of  the  house: 
it  was  she  who  washed  the  dishes  and  scrubbed  the  stairs, 
and  who  cleaned  the  bedrooms  of  the  mother  and  her 
two  daughters.  And  when  night  came,  she  had  to  sleep 
in  the  garret  upon  a  miserable  bed  of  straw,  while  her 
stepsisters  had  decorated  bedrooms,  beds  of  the  very 
latest  fashion,  and  mirrors  in  which  they  could  see  them- 
selves from  head  to  foot." 

Perrault,  Cinderella 

Two  Mistakes  in  the  Use  of  Subordinate 
Clauses 
i68.  The  second  sentence  in  the  quoted  passage 
is,  ' '  She  had  two  daughters  who  were  of  her  temper, 
and  who  were,  in  fact,  just  like  her  in  every  way." 
If  you  will  consider  the  two  subordinate  clauses  that 
begin  with  ' '  who"  you  will  see  that  they  are  joined  by 
the  connective  word  "and,"  which  always  joins  two 
words  or  groups  of  words  that  have  the  same  func- 
tion, or  use,  in  the  sentence.  The  two  subordinate 
clauses  in  the  sentence  given  are  therefore  correctly 
used.  But  the  sentence  might  have  been  written 
thus:  She  had  two  ill-tempered  daughters,  and  who 
were,  in  fact,  like  her  in  every  way.  In  this  sentence 
"and"  does  not  join  two  subordinate  clauses,  for 
there  is  only  one  clause  there.  The  sentence  is 
therefore  incorrect.     Many  people  make  this  mistake, 


CLAUSES  173 

and  you  will  have  to  exercise  great  care  in  order 
to  avoid  it.  Some  correct  sentences  are  given  below; 
show  that  they  each  contain  two  subordinate  clauses 
joined  by  and. 

1 .  He  is  a  boy  who  recites  well  in  school  and  who  plays 
well  on  the  playground. 

2.  The  house  which  stands  close  to  the  street  and  which 
looks  rather  old  and  weatherbeaten,  is  my  old  home. 

3.  The  book  which  I  like  best  and  which  I  read  when- 
ever I  can,  is  Robinson  Crusoe. 

Consider  this  sentence:  When  we  got  to  the  top  of 
the  hill,  a  rabbit  ran  out  of  a  bush.  It  is  clear  that 
"a  rabbit  ran  out  of  a  bush"  is  the  principal  idea, 
and  that  it  is  properly  placed  in  the  principal  clause. 
Some  very  careless  people  arrange  the  sentence 
thus :  We  got  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  when  a  rabbit  ran 
out  of  a  bush.  That  is  to  say,  they  put  the  principal 
idea  in  the  subordinate  clause  and  the  subordinate 
idea  in  the  principal  clause.  You  must  take  care 
to  avoid  this  mistake  also,  especially  when  you  are 
criticizing  your  own  compositions  and  those  of  your 
classmates.  Some  sentences  in  which  principal 
ideas  appear  in  principal  clauses  and  subordinate 
ideas  appear  in  subordinate  clauses  are  given  below : 

1.  When  we  reached  the  harbor,  we  saw  that  the  ship 
was  going  out  to  sea. 

2.  When  the  train  had  come  round  the  curve,  the 
engineer  saw  that  the  switch  was  open. 

3.  Just  as  I  finished  studying  my  lessons,  my  brother 
came  in. 

Failure    to    express    the    subordinate   idea   in    a 


174  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

subordinate  clause  is  a  very  frequent  error  with 
people  who  are  fond  of  using  the  word  so.  They 
join  their  ideas  with  this  word,  making  a  succession 
of  principal  clauses,  when  they  should  use  sub- 
ordinate clauses  for  the  subordinate  ideas.  For 
example,  It  was  a  very  cold  day,  so  I  took  my  skates 
and  went  to  the  pond.  As  the  coldness  of  the  day  is  a 
subordinate  idea  (since  it  gives  a  reason  for  going  to 
the  pond),  it  should  be  expj-essed  in  a  subordinate 
clause,  thus:  ^45  the  day  was  very  cold,  I  took  my 
skates  and  went  to  the  pond.  Show  why  the  following 
sentences  are  correct  in  this  respect: 

1.  As  the  day  was  warm,  I  did  not  wear  my  overcoat. 

2.  As  it  was  Saturday,  there  was  no  school. 

3.  I  did  not  recite  very  well,  since  I  had  not  studied  my 
lessons. 

4.  Since  geography  is  easy  for  me,  I  do  not  have  to 
study  it  very  much. 

169.  If  you  are  in  the  habit  of  stringing  your 
sentences  together  with  so,  reread  some  of  the 
compositions  that  you  have  written  and  determine 
whether  you  can  change  some  of  the  sentences 
containing  this  word  to  sentences  like  those  in  the 
preceding  section.  It  would  be  a  good  exercise  to 
write  the  correct  forms  of  the  sentences  on  the 
blackboard.  •  If  you  find  any  mistakes  in  the  use  of 
and  who  or  and  which,  or  if  you  find  cases  where  the 
subordinate  idea  is  in  the  principal  clause  and  the 
principal  idea  'is  in  the  subordinate  clause,  write 
the  correct  forms  of  the  sentences  on  the  blackboard 
with  the  others. 


CLAUSES  17s 

Exercise  in  Grammar 

170.  Study  the  following  passage  as  you  did  the 
one  from  Cinderella  (section  167).  Look  also  for 
mistakes  in  the  use  of  principal  and  subordinate 
clauses. 

"This  seemed  to  Alice  a  good  opportunity  for  making 
her  escape;  so  she  set  off  at  once,  and  ran  till  she  was 
quite  tired  and  out  of  breath,  and  till  the  puppy's  bark 
sounded  quite  faint  in  the  distance. 

"  'And  yet  what  a  dear  little  puppy  it  was!'  said  Alice, 
as  she  leant  against  a  buttercup  to  rest  herself,  and  fanned 
herself  with  one  of  the  leaves.  '  I  should  have  liked  teach- 
ing it  tricks  very  much,  if — if  I  'd  only  been  the  right  size 
to  do  it !  Oh,  dear !  I  'd  nearly  forgotten  that  I  've  got 
to  grow  up  again!  Let  me  see — how  is  it  managed?  I 
suppose  I  ought  to  eat  or  drink  something  or  other;  but 
the  great  question  is  "What?"  ' 

"The  great  question  certainly  was  'What?'  Alice 
looked  all  round  her  at  the  flowers  and  the  blades  of 
grass,  but  she  could  not  see  anything  that  looked  like  the 
right  thing  to  eat  or  drink  under  the  circumstances. 
There  was  a  large  mushroom  growing  near  her,  about 
the  same  height  as  herself;  and,  when  she  had  looked 
under  it,  and  on  both  sides  of  it,  and  behind  it,  it  occurred 
to  her  that  she  might  as  well  look  and  see  what  was  on 
the  top  of  it. 

"She  stretched  herself  up  on  tiptoe,  and  peeped  over 
the  edge  of  the  mushroom,  and  her  eyes  immediately 
met  those  of  a  large  blue  caterpillar,  that  was  sitting  on 
the  top,  with  its  arms  folded,  quietly  smoking  a  long 
hookah,  and  not  taking  the  smallest  notice  of  her  or  of 
anything  else." 

Carroll,  Alice's  Adventures  in  Wonderland 

13 


176  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

The  third  sentence  of  the  third  paragraph  of  this 
passage  begins  with  the  word  "There."  Do  not 
mistake  this  word  for  the  subject ;  it  is  used  in  order 
to  let  the  subject,  "mushroom,"  come  after  the 
verb  "was."  This  is  a  very  common  manner  of 
expression  in  EngHsh.  There  is,  indeed,  another 
example  in  the  same  sentence — ^the  word  "it"  that 
precedes  "occurred";  the  subject  of  "occurred"  is 
a  clause.     What  is  it?     Preview  section  40. 

Do  not  fail  to  make  a  study  of  quotation  marks 
in  the  passage  quoted  above. 

A  PUPIL^S  COMPOSITION 

171.  There  follows  a  composition  by  an  element- 
ary-school pupil.  Read  it  aloud,  and  then  study 
it  as  you  did  the  passage  in  section  170.  Be 
careful  to  note  the  connective  words.  In  addition, 
criticize  the  paragraph  as  to  completeness  of  sen- 
tences, accuracy  of  expression,  the  punctuation  as 
far  as  you  are  able,  the  use  of  capitals,  and  any 
other  particulars  that  occur  to  you.  It  would  be 
a  good  exercise  to  rewrite  the  paragraph,  making 
as  many  changes  as  you  think  necessary  in  order  to 
avoid  all  kinds  of  errors. 

"The  hardest  thing  to  make  at  home  is  Macaroni 
Italian  Style.  It  was  so  hard  because  there  are  so  many 
things  to  prepare.  First  you  have  to  break  the  Macaroni 
in  one  inch  pieces  then  put  it  on  to  boil  with  boiling  hot 
salted  water.  Get  a  smaller  pot  ready  for  the  white 
sauce  by  using  flour,  milk,  salt  and  Paprica.  While  you 
are  doing  that  you  got  to  grate  the  cheese  in  the  white 


A    PUPIL'S   COMPOSITION  I77 

sauce  and  watch  it  so  it  don't  burn  and  till  the  cheese 
is  melted.  You  got  to  use  two  hands  one  for  stirring  the 
white  sauce  and  the  other  for  stirring  the  Macaroni. 
Then  when  the  Macaroni  is  finished  you  take  the  white 
sauce  off  the  fire  and  drain  the  water  off  the  Macaroni. 
Then  pour  the  white  sauce  in  the  large  pot  with  the 
Macaroni  and  cook  it  till  it  is  done.  While  you  are  doing 
that  you  can  grate  the  boiled  Ham.  Then  when  every- 
thing is  done  you  put  the  Macaroni  on  a  large  platter 
with  the  boiled  ham  sprinkled  over  it.  It  looks  good  when 
it's  served  on  the  table  but  oh  the  work.  The  recipe  is 
for  two  people  but  when  it  comes  to  making  a  whole 
package,  its  so  much  by  watching  one  thing  and  fixing 
another.  I  love  to  cook  but  when  it  comes  to  cooking  a 
package  full  at  home  thats  too  much." 

A  Difficult  Word 

172.  The  pupil  who  wrote  the  composition  quoted 
in  section  171  used  the  clause,  *'you  got  to  grate 
the  cheese."  She  should  have  said,  You  have  to 
grate  the  cheese,  or  simply  Grate  the  cheese.  You 
often  hear  people  use  such  sentences  as  I've  got  a 
cold  or  I've  got  a  motor  car,  when  the  meaning  is 
merely  /  have  a  cold  or  I  have  a  motor  car.  Get  and 
got  do  not  signify  possession.  You  must  not  use 
these  words  unless  you  "are  trying  to  express  the 
idea  of  getting,  that  is,  of  obtaining.  If  you  should 
go  to  a  store  to  buy  a  lead  pencil  and  when  you 
returned  one  of  your  friends  should  ask  you  if 
you  had  got  it,  you  would  be  correct  in  saying, 
Yes,  I  got  it.  But  if  your  friend  should  ask  you 
whether  you  have  a  lead  pencil,  you  should  say, 


178  A   COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Yes,  I  have  one.     The  following  sentences  illustrate 
the  correct  use  of  the  word: 

1.  When  I  was  in  the  city  last  week,  I  got  a  new  suit. 

2 .  I  am  going  to  get  a  new  suit  when  I  go  to  the  city. 

3.  After  I  had  got  my  new  suit,  I  went  to  call  on  my 
aunt. 

However,  there  are  some  idioms,  that  is,  cus- 
tomary expressions,  in  our  language  in  which  get  is 
used  but  not  in  the  sense  of  obtain.  A  few  of  them 
are  to  get  up,  to  get  the  better  of,  to  get  together,  to  get 
in,  to  get  one's  back  up,  and  to  get  out.  These  are  all 
correct,  though  not  always  dignified.  You  are  not 
likely  to  make  any  serious  mistakes  in  the  use  of  the 
word  unless  you  use  it  to  indicate  possession. 

Group  Work 

173.  Work  in  groups  at  the  blackboard  with  the 
special  purpose  of  studying  principal  and  sub- 
ordinate clauses  as  they  are  written.  Those  of  you 
who  write  should  choose  some  subject  in  which  you 
are  interested,  perhaps  one  already  written  upon, 
and  endeavor  to  say  something  interesting  upon 
it,  taking  care  to  make  your  composition  as  accurate 
as  possible.  Those  who  act  as  critics  should  study 
the  grammar  of  what  is  being  written,  asking 
themselves  constantly,  (a)  What  are  the  principal 
clauses  and  what  are  the  subordinate  clauses? 
(6)  What  clauses,  either  principal  or  subordinate,  are 
joined  by  connective  words?  (c)  What  subordi- 
nate clauses  are  joined  to  principal  clauses,  and 
by  what  connectives?     (d)  What  are  the  predicates 


PHRASES  179 

and  subjects  of  both  principal  and  subordinate 
clauses?  and  (e)  Is  the  writer  making  any  mistakes 
that  you  can  detect?  In  case  he  makes  errors  of 
any  sort,  you  are  at  Hberty  to  call  his  attention  to 
them  and  ask  him  to  correct  them.  In  case  you 
disagree,  the  writer's  work  must  stand  until  the  class 
or  the  teacher  can  decide  upon  the  question  in 
dispute.  At  all  times  you  are  allowed  to  talk  about 
the  composition  as  it  is  being  written,  but  you 
should  do  so  in  low  tones  in  order  not  to  disturb 
the  writer.  Remember  at  all  times  that  you  are  to 
aid  the  writer  when  he  needs  aid,  but  that  you  are 
not  to  find  fault  for  the  sake  of  finding  fault. 

Exercise  in  Grammar 

174.  Allow  one  or  more  of  the  compositions  to 
remain  on  the  blackboard  until  the  next  day,  and 
let  the  writers  take  them  up  sentence  by  sentence, 
stating  what  are  principal  and  what  are  subordinate 
clauses,  what  ones  are  joined  by  connectiye  words, 
and  so  on. 

PHRASES 

175.  Read  the  following  groups  of  words: 
I.  "having  a  bone  stuck  in  his  throat" 


"to  put  her  head" 
"for  a  large  sum" 
'.'into  his  throat" 
"in  a  cozy  little  den 
' '  laden  with  books '  * 
"with  one  hand" 
"the  old  sea  tub" 


i8o  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

9.  "  clothed  in  silk  thread  lace  " 

10.  "  of  studying  law  " 

11.  * '  being  warm  and  pleasant ' ' 

Each  one  of  these  groups  of  words  presents  an 
idea  to  your  mind,  but  not  one  of  them  makes 
complete  sense;  hence  they  cannot  be  sentences. 
Neither  can  they  be  even  subordinate  clauses,  since 
they  have  not  subjects  and  predicates.  You  cannot 
help  feeling  that  they  are  parts  of  sentences. 

Consider  the  first  three  as  placed  in  this  sentence : 
*'A  wolf,  having  a  bone  stuck  in  his  throat,  hired  a 
crane,  for  a  large  sum,  to  put  her  head  into  his  throat 
and  draw  out  the  bone."  The  meaning  of  these 
little  groups  of  words  is  now  perfectly  clear;  they 
depend  upon  the  rest  of  the  sentence  for  their  mean- 
ing. In  this  respect  they  are  like  subordinate 
clauses;  but  they  are  different  from  subordinate 
clauses  in  that  they  have  no  verbs  and  subjects. 

Such  groups  of  words  are  called  phrases. 

Many  phrases  begin  with  connective  words,  such 
as  at,  of,  from,  with,  by,  upon,  over,  under,  besides, 
or  beside;  or  with  two  or  three  connective  words, 
such  as  according  to,  in  place  of,  or  instead  of.  All 
these  you  recognize  as  consisting  of  connective 
words  followed  by  substantives.  Other  phrases 
begin  with  words  ending  in  ing,  as  having,  going, 
being,  or  with  words  ending  in  ed,  or  en,  as  in  killed 
by  a  train  and  ''laden  with  books.''  Others  begin 
with  the  part  of  the  verb  that  has  to  before  it, 
as  to  put  in  one  of  the  examples  given  above.  Still 
others  begin  with  a,  an,  or  the,  as  the  long,  straight 


PHRASES  i8i 

way.  Thus  a  complete  subject  or  object  is  often  a 
phrase. 

Phrases  may  be  compound;  thus,  in  the  wind,  in 
the  cold,  and  in  the  rain. 

Phrases  beginning  with  words  ending  in  ing  or  ed 
should  usually  modify  the  subject,  but  careless 
writers  and  speakers  do  not  always  make  it  appear 
so.  For  example,  in  Going  along  the  road,  the  river 
suddenly  came  into  view,  the  phrase  beginning  with 
**  going"  has  nothing  to  modify,  and  the  sentence 
is  certainly  very  absurd.  But  change  it  to  Going 
along  the  road,  we  suddenly  saw  the  river  before  us, 
and  the  phrase  beginning  with  ''going"  modifies 
"we,"  and  since  it  was  we  who  were  going  along  the 
road,  the  sentence  is  correct. 

176.  Make  a  list  of  eight  or  ten  phrases,  and  then 
incorporate  each  one  in  a  good  English  sentence. 
Determine  whether  these  sentences  contain  any 
subordinate  clauses.  Perhaps  you  will  find  that  in 
some  cases  the  phrases  are  parts  of  the  subordinate 
clauses. 

If  you  prefer,  take  all  but  the  first  four  example 
phrases  in  section  175,  and  incorporate  them  in 
sentences. 

Exercise  in  Grammar 

177.  In  the  passages  given  below,  analyze  the 
sentences  in  the  usual  way,  giving  particular  atten- 
tion to  phrases,  and  to  principal  and  subordinate 
clauses.  You  will  observe  that  phrases  may  be 
parts  of  either  principal  or  subordinate  clauses. 
You  will  observe  also  that  one  sentence  may  have 


1 82  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

more  than  one  principal  clause  and  more  than  one 
subordinate  clause. 

"After  saying  this,  he  sank  into  the  surging  sea.  With 
my  godlike  comrades  I  returned  to  our  ships;  and  as  I 
went  my  heart  was  very  dark  and  troubled  within  me. 
But  when  we  reached  the  ships  and  the  sea,  and  had 
eaten  our  supper,  and  the  immortal  night  drew  near, 
we  lay  down  upon  the  beach.  Then  when  the  early 
rosy-fingered  dawn  arose,  we  first  of  all  drew  off  our  ships 
into  the  divine  sea,  and  put  up  the  masts  and  sails.  The 
men  then  took  their  places  in  the  trim  ships,  and  sitting 
in  order  at  the  oar-pins,  struck  the  gray  sea  with  their 
oars.  Then  once  more  to  the  Heaven-descended  river 
of  Egypt  I  brought  my  ships,  and  made  a  sacrifice  of  a 
hundred  cattle.  As  soon  as  I  had  appeased  the  anger  of 
the  immortal  gods,  I  raised  a  mound  to  Agamemnon,  so 
that  his  fame  might  never  perish.  This  being  accom- 
plished, I  sailed  away;  the  immortal  gods  gave  me  a 
wind,  and  brought  me  swiftly  to  my  fatherland.  But 
come,  tarry  in  my  hall  for  eleven  or  twelve  days.  Then 
I  will  send  you  forth  with  honor,  giving  you  splendid 
gifts,  three  horses,  and  a  well-polished  car.  Besides,  I 
will  give  you  a  beautiful  chalice,  so  that  as  you  pour 
libations  to  the  immortal  gods  you  may  be  mindful  of  me 

all  your  days." 

Homer,  The  Odyssey 

"My  gentleness  and  good  behavior  had  gained  so  far 
on  the  emperor  and  the  court,  and  indeed  upon  the  army 
and  people  in  general,  that  I  began  to  conceive  hopes  of 
getting  my  liberty  in  a  short  time.  I  took  all  possible 
methods  to  cultivate  this  favorable  disposition.  The 
natives  came  by  degrees  to  be  less  apprehensive  of  any 
danger  from  me.     I  would  sometimes  lie  down,  and  let 


A    PUPIL'S   COMPOSITION  183 

five  or  six  of  them  dance  on  my  hand.  And  at  last  the 
boys  and  girls  would  venture  to  play  hide  and  seek  in  my 
hair.  I  had  now  made  a  good  progress  in  understanding 
and  speaking  their  language.  The  emperor  had  a  mind 
one  day  to  entertain  me  with  several  of  the  country  shows, 
wherein  they  exceed  all  nations  I  have  known,  both  for 
dexterity  and  magnificence.  I  was  diverted  with  none 
so  much  as  that  of  the  rope-dancers,  performed  upon  a 
slender  white  thread,  extended  about  two  feet,  and  twelve 

inches  from  the  ground." 

Swift,  Gulliver's  Travels 
\ 
A  PUPIL'S   COMPOSITION 

178.  There  follows  another  composition  written 
by  a  pupil.  Study  it  as  you  did  the  passages  in 
the  preceding  section,  and  in  addition  correct  the 
punctuation.  You  can  do  this  best  by  first  reading 
the  composition  aloud.  In  three  places  the  writer  has 
forgotten  to  use  end  punctuation.  In  one  or  two 
other  places  he  has  failed  to  use  a  comma  between 
a  principal  and  a  subordinate,  clause  when  one  is 
plainly  required,  because  the  clause  is  long  and  you 
make  a  decided  stop  in  the  reading  at  that  place. 

"  One  day  a  friend  of  mine  came  over  to  my  house.  He 
brought  his  donkey  with  him.  When  he  got  off  I  asked 
him  for  a  ride.  He  assented  so  I  got  on.  Away  I  went. 
When  the  donkey  and  I  got  about  halfway  around  the 
woods  he  came  to  a  sudden  stop.  As  he  was  on  a  fast 
trot  he  lifted  me  a  few  feet  high. 

"  'Bang!'  I  came  down  on  the  saddle.  When  he 
felt  me  come  down  he  got  frightened  and  started  off  on  a 
gallop  down  the  road.  We  had  got  very  near  around  the 
road  when  he  would  go  no  farther.     He  wanted  to  turn 


i84  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

around  I  was  just  as  determent  as  he  and  would  not  let 
him  go  back 

"He  became  very  angry  and  started  kicking.  The 
harder  I  held  on  the  harder  he  kicked.  Then  he  made  a 
quick  turn  and  threw  me  off  of  his  back  He  seemed 
satisfied  with  this  and  when  I  got  on  again  he  went  the 
way  I  wanted  him  to." 

Have  you  discovered  that  the  writer  did  not  have 
a  clear  idea  about  the  pronunciation  and  spelling  of 
a  certain  word? 

PUNCTUATION  OF  CLAUSES  AND  PHRASES 
179.  It  has  already  been  said  that  clauses  and 
phrases  are  sometimes  set  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
sentence  by  commas.  It  is  often  difficult  to  know 
when  to  do  this,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that 
custom  differs  in  regard  to  it.  How^ever,  we  shall 
observe  the  following  simple  rules: 

I.  When  a  sentence  begins  with  a  subordinate 
clause  or  a  long  phrase,  such  clause  or  phrase  should 
be  followed  by  a  comma.  The  following  sentences 
illustrate : 

1.  If  there  should  be  much  more  rain  this  season,  the 
crops  will  be  ruined. 

2.  When  you  reach  the  place  where  three  roads  meet, 
take  the  middle  one. 

3.  In  the  very  beginning  of  the  game  that  afternoon, 
luck  went  against  us. 

4.  Being  very  eager  to  win  the  game,  the  boys  defied 
ill  luck. 

2 .  A  clause  or  a  phrase  that  follows  what  it  modi- 
fies and  is  essential  to  the  thought  of  the  sentence 


PUNCTUATION  OF  CLAUSES  AND  PHRASES     185 

is  not  usually  punctuated,  but  one  that  may  be 
left  out  without  destroying  the  sense  is  set  off  with 
commas.  Thus,  in  This  is  the  house  that  Jack  built, 
no  comma  is  used  because  ''that  Jack  built"  shows 
what  house  is  meant,  and  could  not  be  left  out. 
But  in  Jack's  house,  which  was  small  and  mean, 
had  a  quantity  of  malt  in  it,  the  clause  gives  an 
additional  fact  about  the  house,  and  could  be  left 
out  without  destroying  the  sense;  hence  it  is  read 
with  pauses  before  and  after,  and  should  be  punc- 
tuated. Again,  in  My  mother  scolds  when  I  am  had, 
the  subordinate  clause  could  hardly  be  spared 
without  affecting  the  sense,  and  no  punctuation  is 
used.  On  the  other  hand,  in  I  left  the  house  in  a 
hurry,  because  I  did  nt  want  to  be  scolded,  the  sub- 
ordinate clause  should  have  a  comma  before  it  if 
a  pause  or  jog  of  the  voice  occurs  there.  Study 
the  following  sentences  in  order  to  see  why  commas 
are  used  or  not  used  to  set  off  phrases  and  clauses. 

1.  My    father's     house,    which    is    now    very    old- 
fashioned,    was    once    much    admired. 

2.  A  house  which  is  much   admired  now  may   be 
old-fashioned  a  few  years   hence. 

3.  In  front  of  an  old  house  halfway  down  the  street, 
stands  a  big  tree. 

4.  This  man  does  not  work  hard  because  he  is  in- 
dustrious, but  because  he  must. 

5.  This  man  works  hard,  as  he  has  a  family  to  support. 

6.  A  big  tree  stands  in  front  of  an  old  house  halfway 
down  the  street. 

7.  We  did  not  take  our  umbrellas,  since  there  was  no 
sign  of  rain. 


i86  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

8.  Let  us  speak,  for  a  little  while,  of  old  times. 

9.  People  are  usually  happiest  when  they  are  busy. 

10.  We  will  help  you  if  you  will  help  us. 

11.  Our  great  river  is  the  Mississippi,  which  drains  a 
great  valley. 

12.  The  river  which  drains  our  great  valley  is  the 
Mississippi. 

180.  Write  on  the  blackboard  several  sentences 
containing  phrases  and  clauses,  punctuating  them 
or  not  according  to  the  needs  of  the  individual  case. 
Remember  that  it  will  help  you  to  read  the  sentences 
aloud,  if  you  will  do  so  naturally  without  attempting 
to  use  special  emphasis ;  it  is  the  rather  rapid  utter- 
ance whose  little  jogs  or  pauses  help  you  to  determine 
where  commas  should  be  used. 

Write  a  paragraph  about  what  you  see  on  the 
way  to  school  each  day.  Some  of  the  work  will  be 
done  at  the  blackboard.  Study  the  phrases  and 
clauses. 

STUDY  OF  PUNCTUATION  AND  THE  FUNCTION 
OF   CONNECTIVES 

181.  Go  back  now  to  the  passages  quoted  in 
section  177,  take  each  one  up  sentence  by  sentence, 
and  consider  it  in  the  following  particulars: 

a.  Has  the  sentence  an  introductory  clause  or  phrase, 
and  is  it  set  off  from  the  rest  of  the  sentence  by  a 
comma  ?  It  is  well  to  remember  here  as  elsewhere 
that  usage  differs;  some  people  set  off  even  the 
short  introductory  phrase,  aad  some  do  not.  You 
are  safe  in  forming  the  habit  of  punctuating  intro- 
ductory phrases  only  when  they  are  long,  or  when 


STUDY  OF  PUNCTUATION  187 

the  sentences  would  be  misunderstood  without 
commas. 
h.  Has  the  sentence  a  subordinate  clause  or  phrase 
that  comes,  not  at  the  beginning,  but  within  the 
sentence  or  at  its  end?  If  so,  notice  whether  or 
not  it  is  set  off  by  commas,  and  why. 

c.  Some  sentences  have  two  or  more  principal  clauses; 

some,  two  or  more  subordinate  clauses.  In  such 
cases  determine  how  many  such  clauses  there  are, 
and  whether  or  not  they  are  separated  by  com- 
mas. Determine  also  whether  the  principal 
clauses  are  joined  by  such  connective  words  as 
and,  hut,  and  or;  and  whether  subordinate  clauses 
are  so  joined.  Again,  determine  whether  or  not 
subordinate  clauses  are  joined  to  principal  clauses  by 
such  connective  words  as  when,  as,  if,  and  wherein. 

d.  Some  sentences  contain  connective  words  which  join 

words  that  are  rather  far  apart.  You  have 
already  studied  the  function,  or  use,  of  such 
words.  Are  there  any  cases  in  the  sentences  you 
are  studying,  and  are  they  preceded  by  commas? 

Group  Work 

182.  Take  again  the  task  of  reporting  a  conver- 
sation that  you  have  heard  or  have  taken  a  part  in, 
and  work  in  groups  at  the  blackboard,  trying  to 
write  correctly  and  fully  as  you  go.  If  any  of  your 
sentences  begin  with  long  phrases  or  with  clauses, 
separate  them  with  commas  from  what  follows. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

183.  Two  or  three  of  the  conversations  will  be  left 
on  the  blackboard  until  the  whole  class  can  listen  to 


1 88  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

a  reading  of  them.    After  they  have  been  read  and  you 
have  determined  whether  or  not  they  are  interesting, 
consider  the  grammar  in  the  following  particulars : 
a.  Are  there  any  incomplete  sentences?     If  so,  com- 
plete them. 
h.  Do  any  of  the  sentences  contain  subordinate  clauses  ? 
If  so,  do  these  contain  subordinate  ideas  and  are 
they  properly  punctuated  ? 

c.  Do  any  of  the  sentences  begin  with  phrases  long 

enough  to  require  commas  after  them? 

d.  What  do  the  connective  words   connect?     This  is 

very  important,  and  should  be  considered  carefully. 

SUBJECTS  FOR  ORAL  COMPOSITIONS 

184.  Put  yourselves  in  the  place  of  a  teacher  who 
is  instructing  a  class,  and  give  a  lecture  or  a  demon- 
stration. In  some  schools  the  girls  in  the  domestic- 
science  work  demonstrate  the  making  of  a  cake,  or 
the  boys  demonstrate  the  making  of  a  chair  much 
as  a  teacher  would  do,  and  the  demonstration  is 
made  a  lesson  in  English.  The  speaker  in  such 
cases  has  at  hand  some  of  the  articles  that  are 
used  in  doing  the  thing  under  discussion,  such  as 
the  gas  stove,  the  pans,  and  the  food  to  be  cooked ;  or 
perhaps,  in  the  case  of  boys,  the  planes,  saws,  and 
wood.  After  the  lecture,  or  demonstration,  the 
class  should  consider  whether  or  not  the  thing  was 
done  clearly  and  effectively. 

Some  subjects,  accompanied,  by  hints,  are  given 
below.  If  they  are  such  subjects  as  you  can  use, 
take  them;  if  not,  choose  some  of  your  own.  You 
can  do  it,  for  you  have  done  things  yourselves  and 


SUBJECTS  FOR   ORAL    COMPOSITIONS  189 

have  seen  your  parents  do  things  which  can  be 
explained.  Or  perhaps  you  have  visited  a  factory 
and  have  seen  something  made,  or  a  farm  and  have 
seen  the  sowing  and  harvesting  of  grain  or  the 
preparation  of  milk  for  the  city  market;  or  perhaps 
you  have  read  in  a  book  or  a  magazine  an  interesting 
account  of  something  that  has  been  done  in  science 
or  mechanics.  Perhaps,  again,  you  have  actually 
done  some  farm  work,  or  scientific  or  mechanical 
work  yourselves,  and  can  give  your  own  experience. 
In  some  cases  you  may  not  find  it  possible  to  have 
any  sort  of  implements  in  the  schoolroom,  but  you 
can  probably  draw  pictures  on  the  blackboard. 

No  matter  what  subject  you  choose,  you  should 
make  an  outline  before  you  begin  to  speak,  so  that 
you  will  be  more  likely  to  speak  fully  and  in  an 
orderly  manner. 

a.  The  Purposes  of  Different  Planes. 

To  demonstrate  this  matter,  you  should  have  a 
smoothing  plane,  a  jack  plane,  and  a  jointer  tb 
show  to  the  class,  as  well  as  pieces  of  wood,  and 
should  explain  the  purpose  of  each  plane.  It  would 
be  interesting,  too,  to  take  one  of  the  planes  apart 
and  explain  its  mechanism.  If  you  have  a  manual- 
training  department,  it  would  be  well  to  take  the 
class  to  it,  and  do  a  piece  of  work  before  them. 

h.  How  to  Sharpen  Tools. 

In  this  case  you  would  need  several  tools,  say  a 
chisel,  a  plane,  and  a  saw,  as  well  as  whetstone 
and  file.  The  grindstone  could  not  very  well  be 
displayed  unless  you  have  a  manual-training 
department. 


igo  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

c.  How  to  Make  a  Mortise. 

This  requires  the  use  of  plane,  knife  or  pencil,  square, 
chisel,  and  mallet. 

d.  How  Aeroplanes  are  Made. 

If  you  have  made  a  small  aeroplane  (pronounced 
{a'er  o  plane) ,  you  can  use  it  for  demonstrations ;  if 
not,  you  will  have  to  use  pictures. 

e.  From  Home  to  Panama  in  an  Airship. 

Probably  a  good  map,  a  picture  of  an  airship,  your 
knowledge   of   geography,   and   your  imagination 
would  be  your  sole  aids  here. 
/.  The  Making  of  an  Apron. 

The  cutting  of  the  apron  and  the  finishing  might 
all  be  illustrated  on  the  blackboard;  but  it  would 
be  well  to  have  at  hand  the  piece  of  cloth,  the 
pattern,  tailor's  chalk,  scissors,  pins,  and  needle 
and  thread. 
g.  Cake  Making. 

Have  a  mixing  bowl,  a  measuring  cup  for  liquids 
and  one  for  dry  ingredients,   a  sieve,   and  two 
spoons. 
h.  Making  Beds. 

Bring  a  doll  bed  to  the  class 
i.  Making  Fudge. 

Have  a  saucepan,  two  spoons,  two  cups,  and  another 
pan. 

STUDY   OF  A  PICTURE 

185.  'What  story  is  told  by  the  picture  on  the  oppo- 
site page  ?    Answer  the  following  questions  about  it : 
a.  What  kind  of  little  girl  is  the  one  you  see  in  the 
picture  ?     Has  she  a  good  disposition  or  a  bad  one  ? 
Do  you  know  any  little  girls  like  her  ? 


STUDY   OF  A    PICTURE  191 

6.  What  kind  of  boy  do  you  see  in  the  picture  ?  Some- 
thing unpleasant  has  happened.  Can  it  be  his 
fault?     Do  you  know  any  boys  like  him? 

c.  What    has    happened?     What    brought    it    about? 

Was   it   the   fault   of   one,    or   both? 

d.  Does  the  mother  take  sides  with  either  child? 

e.  The  father  has  evidently  just  come  in.     What  is 

being  said  to  him  ? 

/.  It  appears  that  the  father  has  to  decide  what  is  to 
be  done  about  the  difficulty.  How  do  you  think 
he  will  decide  it?     Will  he  make  a  just  decision? 

g.  How  will  the  children  act  under  the  punishment — 
if  both  are  guilty  of  misconduct?  And  if  only 
one,  how  will  he  or  she  act  ?  Will  he  or  she  or  both 
do  better  next  time  ? 

h.  If  you  have  thought  out  good  answers  to  these 
questions,  you  have  a  story  to  tell,  or  perhaps  a 
play  to  write.  What  title  should  it  have?  Don't 
forget  that  a  title  must  fit  the  story. 

Writing  and  Reading  a  Story  or  Play 

186.  Decide  which  you  are  going  to  write — a 
story  or  a  play.  Some  of  you  may  write  the  one; 
some  of  you  the  other.  Take  a  class  period  for 
the  writing.  The  next  day  some  of  your  number 
will  read  their  work  to  the  class  so  that  you  can 
decide  who  has  done  best.  The  chief  question  to  ask 
yourselves  is, — Have  we  made  any  improvement  in 
writing  plays  and  stories?  That  is,  have  we  learned 
how  to  arrange  a  series  of  events  so  that  they  will 
have  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end?  Have 
we  learned  to  give  the  story  or  the  play  an  inter- 
esting end? 
14 


192  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

EXERCISE  IN   SELF-CRITICISM 

187.  This  is  a  good  time  to  ask  yourselves  if  you 
have  made  any  improvement  since  you  began  to 
study  grammar  and  composition  together.  Consider 
the  following  points,  and  have  a  general. conversation 
about  them  in  class: 

a.  Are  you  able  to  speak  or  write  more  of  what  is  in 

your  mind  than  you  could  at  first  ?  If  so  what  has 
helped  you? 

b.  Have  you  gained  any  ability  to  learn  more  of  a  given 

subject  than  you  could  at  first,  in  order  to  write 
or  speak  of  it?     If  so,  mention  some  cases. 

c.  Have  you  at  any  time  been  able  to  write  or  speak 

better  on  your  subject  because  other  members  of  ^ 
the  class  have  expressed  themselves  fully  and 
correctly,  or  because  you  have  profited  by  their 
mistakes?     Mention  cases. 

d.  You  have  read  in  this  book  a  number  of  compositions, 

both  good  and  bad,  that  were  written  by  pupils 
in  your  own  grades.  Have  you  gained  any  ability 
from  the  criticism  of  these? 

e.  In  your  writing  and  speaking  are  you  now  able  to 

avoid  mistakes  in  grammar  that  you  once  made? 
For  example,  have  you  corrected  yourselves  of 
using  ain't,  he  don't,  to  him  and  I,  it  is  me,  and 
similar  cases  of  bad  grammar? 

/.  If,  in  speaking,  you  were  ever  in  the  habit  of  joining 
all  your  sentences  together  by  and-uh,  then-uh, 
but-uh,  and  so-uh,  have  you  cured  yourselves  of 
the  habit? 

g.  In  your  writing  have  you  learned  to  know  when  you 
reach  the  end  of  a  sentence,  and  do  you  always  end 
the  sentence  with  the  proper  punctuation  mark? 


SOME    VERSES   WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS  I93 

h.  Have  you  learned  to  think  of  the  sentence  as  a 
complete  thing,  composed  of  parts  that  are  related 
to  each  other? 

i.  Have  you  gained  a  little  knowledge  of  punctuation 
within  the  sentence  so  that  you  can  use  it  ? 

y.  Have  you  gained  any  sureness  of  spelling  certain 
words? 

k.  Have  you  been  able  to  correct  your  mistakes  in  the 
use  of  certain  words — got,  for  instance? 

/.  Do  you  reahze  that  by  writing  slowly  and  speaking 
slowly,  and  at  the  same  time  paying  attention  to 
both  what  you  say  and  how  you  say  it,  you  will 
gradually  gain  the  ability  to  express  yourselves 
fully  and  grammatically? 

m.  Have  you  discovered  that  the  assistance  your  critics 
give  you  in  group  work  causes  you  to  be  careful 
both  in  what  you  say  and  how  you  say  it? 

SOME  VERSES  WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS 

1 88.  In  this  section  are  some  verses  written  by 
pupils  in  an  elementary  school  in  a  big  city  on  the 
day  before  their  graduation.  The  teacher  told  them 
to  write  about  one  another,  and,  if  they  could,  to 
make  the  verses  like  poems  they  had  read.  Read 
them  aloud  and  try  to  determine  of  what  poems  they 
are  imitations.  Some  of  them  are  called  Limericks 
— the  first  one,  for  example — and  are  not  imitations 
of  any  particular  verses  of  this  type. 

There  is  a  young  maiden  named  Frances 

Who  reads  of  knights  with  long  lances 

She  dreamed  that  Prince  Charming 

With  boldness  alarming 

Would  appear  on  a  black  horse  that  prances. 


194  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

There  is  a  young  girl  named  Gladys. 

I  know  you  will  think  she's  a  faddist. 

She 's  a  bold  suffragette 

And  yet,  and  yet  ^-  ^ 

Of  mice  she's  afraid,  is  Gladys,  n 

Oh  young  Johnny  Jones  is  come  out  of  the  west, 

Through  all  the  big  room  his  lessons  are  best. 

And  save  his  good  pen  he  weapons  had  none. 

He  stayed  not  for  "G's,"  he  stopped  not  at  "E's" 

He  answered  all  questions  with  greatest  of  ease. 

So  faithful  in  lessons,  so  dauntless  in  game 

Have  you  ever  heard  of  pupil  so  well  known  to  fame? 

Edwin  thought  he  was  a  scholar  bold, 

His  deeds,  though  great  and  manifold. 

No  skald  in  song  has  told. 

No  saga  e'er  has  sung  them. 

Take  heed  that  in  thy  high  school  course, 

Thou  dost  thy  tale  with  pride  rehearse. 

Else  dread,  O  Edwin,  dread  the  curse 

Of  high  school  exams  to  down  thee. 

Johnny  Jones  could  eat  no  fat; 
Jenny  Jones  could  eat  no  lean; 
And  so  betwixt  them  both,  you  see, 
The  lunch  room  platters  were  clean. 

Do  you  know  our  little  Jeanette, 

She 's  a  wild  militant  suffragette. 

She  never  will  marry 

Because  she  will 

Carry  our  votes  for  the  next  president. 


SOME    VERSES   WRITTEN  BY   PUPILS  IQS 

Helen  is  a  suffragette, 

Her  works  of  great  renown, 
And  plans  for  social  betterment 

Are  heard  through  the  town. 

Half  a  day  Half  a  day 

Half  a  day  longer 
Into  the  valley  of  hope 

Strode  the  half  hundred 
Forward  the  graduates  bright 
Charge  with  your  main  and  mi^ht 
Into  the  valley  of  hope 
Strode  the  half  hundred. 

There  is  a  girl  named  Huyler, 

Of  books  she  was  certainly  a  piler, 

But  never  a  look 

Did  she  e'er  give  a  book 

As  for  marks  they  never  could  rile  her. 

There  are  three  hundred  sixty-five  days  in  a  year, 

As  I  have  heard  many  say, 

But  the  merriest  one  in  all  the  year 

Is  graduation  day. 

Sing  a  song  of  sixpence 
A  report  card  full  of  "E's" 
This  meant  graduation 
For  Vera  and  Louise. 

Through  eight  long  years  of  education 
Ada  ends  with  graduation 
Then  into  high  school  she  will  go 
For  yet  there 's  many  things  to  know. 


196  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

A  dillar,  a  dollar, 

A  bright  looking  scholar 

Is  our  little  maid  named  Grace, 

In  basket  ball  she  can  beat  them  all, 

And  she  wins  in  every  race. 

The  subject  of  my  sketch  is 

Raymond  Pingo 
You  are  all  well  acquainted 

with  his  lingo, 
His  abode  is  mainly  in  the 

third  floor  hall. 
He  knows  the  place,  ceiling. 

floor  and  wall. 
His  choice  is  not  the  hall 

as  you  may  see, 
He  is  sent  there  by  his 

teacher  L.  M.  D. 
"Go  your  own  way" 

she  says  to  Ray. 
"You '11  see  my  way  is  best 

some  day." 

A  Study  of  the  Verses 

189.  After  reading  the  verses  for  the  pleasure  they 

give,  you  must  study  them  in  detail  to  see  how  well 

they  are  written.     Consider  the  following  points: 

a.  In  some  of  the  verses  there  are  lines  that  do  not 

sound  right.     This  may  be  because  the  words  do 

not  flow  naturally,  or  because  the  meter  is  not 

good.     Try  to  find  these  faulty  lines  and  to  reword 

them  on  the  blackboard,  so  that  they  will  sound 

better. 


STUDY   OF  A    PICTURE  IQ? 

b.  One  of  the  little  poems  has  a  rime  word  in  the  wrong 

line.     Which  one  is  it? 

c.  Is  n't  it  rather  strange  that  hardly  one  of  these 

Httle  compositions  in  rime  is  correctly  punctuated  ? 
The  pupils  punctuated  well  when  they  wrote 
prose,  but  in  poetry  they  failed.  Read  aloud 
again,  and  use  your  sense  of  the  pause  and  your 
knowledge  of  grammar  to  determine  where  punctua- 
tion marks  should  be  used. 

Writing  Verses 

190.  What  these  pupils  did,  you  also  can  do. 
Select  some  poem  that  you  are  fond  of,  one  that  you 
have  read  in  your  readers  or  in  other  books,  and 
write  verses  about  one  another,  using  the  selected 
poems  as  models.  Longfellow's  Hiawatha  is  easy 
to  imitate,  as  it  has  no  rime;  but  some  of  you  should 
certainly  attempt  rime.  It  is  not  so  difficult  as  you 
may  think. 

After  you  have  written  your  verses,  read  them 
aloud  and  offer  criticism. 

STUDY  OF  A  PICTURE 

191.  Study  the  picture  opposite  page  198.  The 
following  questions  will  help  you: 

a.  Is  the  scene  laid  in  modem  or  ancient  times?     How 

do  you  know? 

b.  Some  knights  were  good;  some  were  bad.     Which 

do  you  take  these  to  be? 

c.  Do  you  know  in  what  kind  of  houses  knights  and 

ladies  lived? 

d.  Do  you  know  what  kind  of  vow  a  man  took  when  he 

became  a  knight? 


igS  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

e.  What  is  the  boy  in  the  picture  about  to  do  ? 

/.   Do  you  take  him  to  be  a  child  of  the  rich  or  the  poor? 

g.  Can  you  think  of  any  good  reason  he  may  have  for 

wanting  to  keep  the  kitten  from  harm? 
h.  When  he  did  what  3^ou  see  him  about  to  do,  what 

did  the  knights  and  ladies  do? 
i.   Can  you  think  of  any  influence  the  incident  may 

have  had  on  the  after  life  of  the  boy? 
./.   There  is  a  story  or  a  play  here.     What  will  you  call  it  ? 

Writing  and  Reading  a  Story  or  Play 

192.  By  this  time  you  have  had  a  good  deal  of 
practice  in  writing  stories  and  a  little  in  writing 
plays.  Choose  w^hich  you  will  write,  and  use  a 
class  period  for  the  w^ork.  When  you  have  finished, 
exchange  papers  and  keep  them  until  the  next  day. 
In  the  meantime  read  them  over  very  carefully  and 
be  able  to  give  advice  in  the  class  period.  You 
should  have  conferences  in  which  you  tell  one 
another  all  that  will  be  helpful  in  rewriting.  Some 
of  the  work  will  be  read  before  the  class  and 
criticized  freely.  After  this,  rewTite  the  work  for 
the  following  day.  Exchange  papers  again,  giving 
both  the  first  and  the  second  drafts  to  one  another, 
so  that  you  may  see  how  much  improvement  has 
been  made. 

SIMPLE   SENTENCES 

193.  Read  the  following  sentences: 

1.  "A  boy  was  stung  by  a  nettle." 

2.  "A  boy  stole  a  lesson  book  from  one  of  his  school 
fellows." 

3.  "Her  two  sisters  jeered  at  her." 


*    t      1 


COMPLEX  SENTENCES  199 

4.  "A  hare  one  day  ridiculed  the  short  legs  and  slow 
pace  of  the  tortoise." 

5.  "Then  Cinderella  put  her  hand  into  her  pocket,  and 
drew  forth  the  other  glass  slipper." 

6.  "A  serpent  and  an  eagle  were  one  day  struggling 
with  each  other." 

7.  "She  was  small  and  slight  in  person." 

8.  "I  am  Hercules." 

Each  of  the  sentences  given  above  is  called  a 
simple  sentence,  because  it  has  but  one  clause. 
That,  of  course,  is  a  principal  clause.  A  simple 
sentence  may  have  a  compound  verb,  a  compound 
subject,  a  compound  object,  or  compound  predicate 
words.  It  may  also  have  phrases.  Thus,  the  first 
sentence  has  the  phrase  "by  a  nettle." 

What  is  the  complete  predicate  of  the  first  exam- 
ple sentence?  the  predicate  vejb?  the  complete 
subject?  the  subject  substantive? 

Answer  the  same  questions  in  regard  to  the  other 
sentences. 

What  sentences  have  compound  parts?  What 
are  the  connective  words? 

What  sentences  have  phrases?  Do  they  belong 
to  the  predicates  or  to  the  subjects? 

What  sentences  have  predicate  words? 

194.  Write  some  simple  sentences,  and  determine 
whether  any  of  them  have  parts  that  are  compound. 

COMPLEX  SENTENCES 

195.  Read  the  following  sentences  carefully: 

1.  "This  is  the  house  that  Jack  built." 

2.  Go  find  the  house  that  Jack  built. 


200  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

3 .  "  They  promised  that  they  would  carry  me  to  distant 
Ithaca." 

4.  *'I  know  that  she  will  not  cease  from  grief  and 
weeping  until  she  sees  me." 

5.  "They  say  all  Indian  nabobs  are  enormously  rich." 

6.  "If  you  would  only  spare  my  life,  I  would  be  sure 
to  repay  your  kindness." 

7.  "He  caught  him  and  was  about  to  kill  him,  when 
the  mouse  piteously  entreated." 

8.  "A  bat,  falling  upon  the  ground,  was  caught  by  a 
weasel,  of  whom  he  earnestly  sought  his  life." 

9.  "When  at  last   they  awoke,  it  was   already  dark 
night." 

10.  "Just  wait  a  little,  until  the  moon  has  arisen." 

11.  "It  was  not  three  mornings  since  they  had  left  their 
father's  house." 

12.  "After  he  had  worked  for  a  long  time,  he  came  to 
the  courtyard  of  a  royal  palace." 

13.  "In  the  forest  roams  a  unicorn  which  does  great 
harm." 

14.  "A  fox  who  had  never  yet  seen  a  lion,  when  he  fell  in 
with  him  by  chance  in  the  forest  was  so  frightened 
that  he  was  near  dying  with  fear." 

The  sentences  given  as  examples  are  complex 
sentences.  A  complex  sentence  is  one  that  has 
one  principal  clause  and  at  least  one  subordinate 
clause.  Thus,  the  first  sentence  is  composed  of  two 
parts  —  a  principal  clause,  "This  is  the  house,"  and 
a  subordinate  clause,  "that  Jack  built." 

The  subordinate  clause  may  modify  the  verb,  the 
subject,  the  object,  a  predicate  word,  or  a  substan- 
tive preceded  by  a  connective  word.  It  may,  indeed, 
even  be  the  subject  itself,  as  in  the  sentence,  That 


COMPLEX  SENTENCES  20 1 

he  was  afraid  was  very  plain.  There  are  several  sen- 
tences above  in  which  it  is  the  object.  A  clause 
that  is  an  object  is,  of  course,  a  Group  Object. 

You  can  determine  which  is  the  subordinate  and 
which  is  the  principal  clause  by  asking  yourselves 
which  clause  depends  upon  —  that  is,  belongs  to,  or 
modifies  —  some  part  of  the  other;  or  which  clause 
is  subject  or  object  of  the  other.  Thus,  "that 
Jack  built"  plainly  belongs  to  "house";  this  clause 
is  therefore  subordinate. 

You  have  already  had  a  hint  of  another  means  of 
determining  which  is  the  subordinate  clause,  but 
it  is  not  a  certain  means.  Nevertheless  it  is  usually 
helpful.  It  is  that  most  subordinate  clauses  begin 
with  a  connective  word — not  and,  but,  or  or,  but 
such  words  as  that,  who,  which,  when,  until,  till, 
after,  before,  if,  unless,  and  many  others. 

The  subordinate  clause  may  either  precede  or 
lollow  the  principal  clause.  It  may  even  be  between 
the  subject  and  the  verb  of  the  principal  clause,  as 
in  the  following  example :  Washington,  after  he  had 
retired  from  the  presidency,  went  back  to  Mount 
Vernon. 

In  the  sentences  given  as  examples,  what  are  the 
principal  clauses,  and  what  are  the  subordinate 
clauses  ?    That  is,  show  each  sentence  to  be  complex. 

Determine  whether  the  subordinate  clauses  are 
parts  of  the  predicates  or  of  the  subjects. 

What  sentences  contain  phrases  beginning  with 
connective  words?  And  do  they  belong  to,  or  mod- 
ify, the  predicates  or  the  subjects? 


202  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

In  one  or  two  cases  a  sentence  has  more  than  one 
subordinate  clause.  Determine  whether  each  of 
these  belongs  to  the  principal  clause  or  to  another 
subordinate  clause. 

196.  Write  some  complex  sentences.  Read  them 
aloud  in  a  natural  manner,  without  special  emphasis, 
and  use  commas  wherever  there  are  necessary 
pauses,  or  slight  jogs  of  the  voice. 

Or,  reconsider  some  composition  previously  writ- 
ten, determine  what  sentences  are  complex,  and 
note  whether  you  have  used  commas  where  they 
are  necessary  to  set  off  the  subordinate  clauses. 

COMPOUND  AND   COMPLEX-COMPOUND 
SENTENCES 

197.  Read  the  following  sentences  carefully: 

1.  "They  came  into  a  great  hall,  and  there  they  found 
a  feast  spread." 

2.  "A  certain  tailor  had  a  son  who  happened  to  be 
small,  and  no  bigger  than  a  thumb;  and  on  this  account 
he  was  always  called  Thumbling." 

3.  "Puss  bade  the  men  in  the  fields  call  the  Marquis 
of  Carabas  their  lord,  or  it  would  go  hard  with  them." 

4.  "He  dragged  himself  to  the  side  of  a  pond;  there 
he  meant  to  drink  some  water  and  rest  a  while." 

5.  "Not  long  afterward,  in  the  evening,  the  seven 
dwarfs  came  home;  but  how  shocked  they  were  when 
they  saw  their  dear  little  Snow  White  lying  on  the  ground, 
and  that  she  neither  stirred  nor  moved,  and  seemed  to  be 
dead!" 

6.  "Betimes  next  morning  the  forester  got  up  and 
went  out  hunting;  and  when  he  was  gone,  the  children 
were  still  in  bed." 


COMPLEX-COMPOUND   SENTENCES  203 

7.  "We  just  now  heard  some  pleasant  music  in  thine 
abode;  but  when  we  came  up,  it  ceased;  and  we  would 
that  we  knew  whether  she  who  was  performing  it  is  a 
white  or  a  black  slave  girl,  or  a  lady." 

8.  "In  a  crimson  sash  this  singular  horseman  wore 
a  dagger  on  the  right  side,  and  on  the  left  a  short,  crooked, 
Moorish  sword;  and  by  a  tarnished  baldric  over  the 
shoulder  hung  the  horn  which  announced  his  approach." 

.  You  have  learned  that  certain  words  —  and,  for 
instance — connect  verbs,  subjects,  objects,  predicate 
words,  subordinate  clauses,  and  phrases.  They  also 
connect  principal  clauses.  The  first  sentence  above 
is  an  example.  It  is,  in  fact,  two  simple  sentences 
written  as  one.  It  might  be  written  thus:  They 
came  into  a  great  hall.  There  they  found  a  feast 
spread.  But  as  it  stands  above,  it  is  called  a  com- 
pound sentence.  A  compound  sentence  is  one  that 
contains  at  least  two  principal  clauses. 

The  second  sentence  might  be  written  thus:  A 
certain  tailor  had  a  son  who  happened  to  he  small, 
and  no  bigger  than  a  thumb.  On  this  account  he  was 
always  called  Thumbling.  That  is,  the  sentence  as 
given  in  the  list  is  really  two  sentences  joined  because 
they  are  closely  related  in  thought.  Now,  one  of 
the  parts  into  which  we  have  just  divided  the 
original  sentence  is  in  itself  a  complex  sentence; 
that  is,  it  has  a  subordinate  as  well  as  a  principal 
clause.  The  original  sentence  is  therefore  a  com- 
plex-compound sentence.  A  complex-compound  sen- 
tence, then,  is  one  that  has  at  least  two  principal 
clauses  and  at  least  one  subordinate  clause. 

Sometimes  there  is  no  connective  word  between 


204  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

the  principal  clauses  of  a  compound  or  a  complex- 
compound  sentence,  as  in  the  case  of  the  fourth  of 
the  sentences  given  as  examples.  What  do  you 
notice  about  the  punctuation? 

Determine  which  of  the  example  sentences  are 
compound  and  which  are  complex-compound,  and 
why. 

198.  Write  some  compound  and  some  complex- 
compound  sentences.  In  three  or  four  cases  do  not 
use  a  connective  word  between  the  two  main  parts 
of  the  sentence;  be  careful  about  punctuation. 

PUNCTUATION 

199.  Before  beginning  the  study  of  certain  pas- 
sages that  are  to  follow,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
have  a  little  review  and  a  little  advance  work  on 
punctuation;  for  punctuation  should  be  studied 
very  carefully  in  connection  with  principal  and  sub- 
ordinate clauses.  The  rules  that  follow  should  be 
learned,  in  substance,  so  that  they  may  be  easily 
understood  when  you  are  analyzing  sentences,  or 
referred  to  if  you  forget,  and  above  all  so  that  they 
may  be  used  when  you  are  writing.  Indeed,  the 
knowledge  of  punctuation  and  that  of  grammar  are 
very  closely  related. 

a.  Some  sort  of  punctuation  mark  should  be  used 
between  the  principal  clauses  of  a  compound  sen- 
tence, unless  the  sentence  is  very  short  and  the 
thoughts  very  closely  related.  Thus,  a  punctua- 
tion mark  may  be  spared,  if  the  writer  chooses,  in 
so  short  a  sentence  as  The  clouds  gather  and  the 
rain  falls. 


PUNCTUATION  205 

h.  Usually  the  mark  to  be  used  between  the  parts, 
or  members,  of  a  compound  sentence  is  the  comma, 
as  in  the  following  case:  The  fall  of  rain  that 
summer  was  very  heavy,  and  the  streams  over- 
flowed their  banks. 

c.  The   semicolon   is   often   used,    however,    between 

the  members  of  a  compound  sentence  (i)  if  either 
principal  clause  has  one  or  more  commas  in  it,  or 
(2)  if  there  is  no  connective  word  used  to  join  the 
principal  clauses.  An  example  of  the  first  case  is 
as  follows:  The  fall  of  rain  that  summer,  as  every 
old  farmer  will  tell  you,  was  very  heavy;  and  the 
streams  overflowed  their  hanks.  An  example  of  the 
second  case  is  as  follows:  The  fall  of  rain  that 
summer  was  heavy;  the  streams  overflowed  their  hanks. 
Sometimes  both  reasons  for  the  use  of  the  semicolon 
apply  to  the  same  sentence,  as  in  the  following 
example:  The  fall  of  rain  that  summer,  as  every 
old  farmer  will  tell  you,  was  very  heavy;  the  streams 
overflowed  their  hanks. 

d.  A  subordinate  clause  that  begins  a  sentence,  that 

is,  an  introductory  clause,  should  usually  have 
a  comma  after  it.  Example:  When  the  tide  comes 
in,  we  are  going  down  to  the  heach.  Some  writers 
do  not  use  a  comma  after  so  short  an  introductory 
clause,  but  it  is  usually  best  to  do  so. 

e.  An    introductory    phrase    should    have    a    comma 

after  it  if  it  is  long,  but  it  need  not  have  one  if  the 
phrase  is  short  enough  to  be  seen  with  one  glance 
of  the  eye.  Examples:  After  the  coming  in  of  the 
tide,  we  are  going  down  to  the  heach.  After  high  tide 
a  ship  came  into  the  harhor.  Usage  differs  here  too, 
but  you  can  safely  follow  the  rule  given. 
/.  A  subordinate  clause,  in  any  position,   should  be 


2o6  'A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

set  off  by  one  or  two  commas  if  the  sense,  not  the 
emphasis,  demands  a  pause,  or  a  jog  of  the  voice, 
in  reading.  Example:  We  shall  go  down  to  the 
beach  when  the  tide  comes  in,  because  a  ship  will  enter 
the  harbor.  In  this  sentence  the  clause  beginning 
with  "when"  has  no  pause,  or  jog  of  the  voice, 
before  it;  therefore  no  comma  is  used;  but  the 
clause  beginning  with  "because"  has  a  very  distinct 
pause  before  it,  and  a  comma  is  therefore  used. 
Another  example:  Christopher  Columbus,  who  was 
the  discoverer  of  America,  was  a  man  of  strong  deter- 
mination. Here  commas  are  used  because  there 
are  pauses.  But  in  "  This  is  the  house  that  Jack 
built,"  there  is  no  pause  before  the  subordinate 
clause,  and  therefore  no  comma  is  used. 

g.  If  there  is  a  series  of  verbs,  subjects,  or  any  other 
parts  of  the  sentence — that  is,  if  there  is  a  com- 
pound construction  of  three  parts  or  more — 
commas  should  be  used  between  the  parts,  and 
even  before  the  connective  word  that  joins  the 
last  two.  Examples:  France,  Germany,  and  Italy 
are  countries  of  Europe.  The  army  fled  without 
baggage,  without  arms,  and  almost  without  food. 

h.  There  should  be  a  comma  before  a  connective  word 
that  joins  parts  of  a  compound  construction 
when  they  are  long  or  are  far  apart.  Example: 
The  sailors  landed  on  an  island  that  they  had  sighted 
in  the  night,  and  filled  their  casks  with  water.  The 
connective  "and"  joins  the  verbs  "landed"  and 
"filled";  since  these  words  are  far  apart  we  pause 
before  the  "and"  when  we  read  the  sentence,  and 
we  must  use  the  comma  when  we  write. 

It  is  the  present  tendency  to  punctuate  less  than 


PUNCTUATION  207 

formerly.  The  change  is  probably  traceable  to  the 
newspapers,  which  must  be  written  and  printed  in 
great  haste.  But  as  punctuation  is  not  only  a  means 
of  clear  writing  but  also  a  means  of  studying  gram- 
mar, you  are  advised  to  attend  to  it  carefully. 

Exercise  in  Grammar  and  Punctuation 

200.  Read  the  story  given  below.  Then  study 
it,  sentence  by  sentence,  (a)  to  determine  whether 
the  sentences  are  simple,  complex,  compound,  or 
complex-compound,  and  why  in  every  case;  (h)  to 
determine  what  the  connective  words  are,  and  what 
they  connect;  and  (c)  to  determine  what  punctua- 
tion marks  are  used  in  accordance  with  the  rules 
given  in  the  preceding  section.  If  you  cannot 
remember  all  the  rules,  refer  to  them  as  you  study 
the  sentences.  You  will  notice  that  the  para- 
graphing does  not  follow  a  rule  you  have  learned. 

Herr  Korbes 

"There  were  once  a  cock  and  a  hen  who  wanted  to 
take  a  journey  together.  So  the  cock  built  a  beautiful 
carriage,  which  had  four  red  wheels,  and  harnessed  four 
mice  to  it.  The  hen  seated  herself  in  it  with  the  cock, 
and  they  drove  away  together.  Not  long  afterwards  they 
met  a  cat,  who  said,  'Where  are  you  going?'  The  cock 
replied,  'We  are  going  to  the  house  of  Herr  Korbes.' 
'Take  me  with  you,'  said  the  cat.  The  cock  answered, 
'Most  willingly;  get  up  behind,  lest  you  fall  off  in 
front.  Take  great  care  not  to  dirty  my  little  red  wheels. 
And  you,  little  wheels,  roll  on;  and  you,  little  mice, 
pipe  out,  as  we  go  forth  on  our  way  to  the  house  of 
Herr  Korbes.'  «     ^ 


2o8  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

"After  this  came  a  millstone,  then  an  egg,  then  a  duck, 
then  a  pin,  and  at  last  a  needle,  who  all  seated  themselves 
in  the  carriage,  and  drove  with  them.  When,  however, 
they  reached  the  house  of  Herr  Korbes,  Herr  Korbes  was 
not  there.  The  mice  drew  the  carriage  into  the  barn; 
the  hen  flew  with  the  cock  upon  a  perch.  The  cat  sat 
down  by  the  hearth,  the  duck  on  the  well  pole.  The 
egg  rolled  itself  into  a  towel ;  the  pin  stuck  itself  into  the 
chair  cushion;  the  needle  jumped  on  to  the  bed  in  the 
middle  of  the  pillow,  and  the  millstone  laid  itself  over 
the  door.  Then  Herr  Korbes  came  home,  went  to  the 
hearth,  and  was  about  to  light  the  fire,  when  the  cat 
threw  a  quantity  of  ashes  in  his  face.  He  ran  into  the 
kitchen^  in  a  great  hurry  to  wash  it  off,  and  the  duck 
splashed  some  water  in  his  face.  He  wanted  to  dry  it 
with  the  towel;  but  the  egg  rolled  up  against  him,  broke, 
and  glued  up  his  eyes.  He  wanted  to  rest,  and  sat  down 
in  the  chair;  and  then  the  pin  pricked  him.  He  fell  in  a 
passion,  and  threw  himself  on  the  bed;  but  as  soon  as 
he  laid  his  head  on  the  pillow,  the  needle  pricked  him 
so  that  he  screamed  aloud  and  was  just  going  to  run  into 
the  wide  world  in  his  rage;  but  when  he  came  to  the 
house  door,  the  millstone  leapt  down  and  struck  him 
dead.     Herr  Korbes  must  have  been  a  very  wicked  man." 

Grimm,  Household  Tales 

Equivalents  of  Sentences 
201.  You  have  already  learned  that  sometimes 
a  group  of  words  has  the  effect  of  a  sentence  or  of  a 
principal  clause  without  actually  being  one.  Such  a 
case  is  in  the  first  paragraph  of  the  story  of  "Herr 
Korbes."  It  is  the  cock's  reply,  "Most  willingly." 
This  has  the  effect  of  a  principal  clause  as  distinctly 
as  if  it  read,  "Twill  do  so  mpst  willingly."     There 


PUNCTUATION  209 

are  many  such  cases  in  composition,  especially  in 
conversation. 

Pupils'  Compositions 
202.  There  follow  four  compositions  written  by 
pupils  in  an  elementary  school.  The  last  one  was 
written  from  memory  after  its  author  had  heard 
the  original  form  of  the  story  read.  Study  the  four 
themes  as  you  did  the  story  in  section  200,  criticiz- 
ing and  correcting  every  detail.  It  would  be  a  good 
exercise  to  rewrite  one  of  them. 

"Wednesday,  April  18,  1906,  was  the  day  of  the  great 
San  Francisco  fire  and  earthquake.  We  received  a 
shock  at  five  minutes  past  five  then  the  big  quake  came. 
Soon  after  the  big  fire  broke  out  and  we  were  in  more 
danger  than  ever. 

"For  days  and  days  the  fire  raged.  All  the  big  stores 
burning  up  one  by  one.  At  night  we  would  go  up  to  the 
top  of  a  hill  and  look  down  at  the  burning  city. 

"After  while  when  the  fire  died  down  the  streets  were 
very  dark.  When  the  men  began  to  build  again,  little 
fires  would  break  out  in  different  places." 

"  Last  summer  when  I  was  in  Seattle  we  took  an  excur- 
sion to  the  navy  yard.  When  we  were  waiting  on  the 
docks  for  the  boat  to  come  up  it  was  very  crowded. 
Every  one  thought  it  was  going  to  stop  on  the  north  side 
of  the  dock,  so  they  all  went  on  that  side. 

"Pretty  soon  the  boat  pulled  in  on  the  south  side  and 
there  was  a  lot  of  pushing  and  crowding  to  get  over  to 
the  other  side.  When  they  put  the  gang  plank  out  the 
men  would  try  to  get  on  first  and  pushed  the  women  and 
children  away.  One  man  tried  to  get  on  another  way 
and  as  he  was  doing  it  he  got  his  hat  knocked  off  into  the 


2IO  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

water.     At  the  last  when  the  plank  was  taken  off  a  boy 
was  on  the  boat  and  his  mother  was  on  shore. 

''We  were  very  glad  when  we  got  back  to  Seattle." 

"When  I  lived  in  Cahfornia  I  used  to  own  a  dog  whom 
I  considered  to  be  a  model  of  intelligent  dogs. 

"He  was  an  Irish  Water  Spaniel  with  a  great  deal  of 
common  sense.  He  could  climb  a  tree  or  jump  the  highest 
fence  with  ease.  One  day  I  started  off  in  a  pony  cart  to 
ride  to  a  town  about  two  miles  away  and  I  took  my  dog 
'Rex'  as  that  was  his  name.  When  we  arrived  there  I 
visited  some  friends  for  a  while  and  after  receiving  a 
package  from  them,  for  my  mother,  I  started  back.  I 
had  gone  about  half  a  mile  when  I  noticed  the  door  of 
the  cart  open  and  the  package  gone. 

"It  was  easy  enough  to  surmise  how  the  package  was 
lost  and  with  a  look  of  great  dismay  on  my  face  I  turned 
to  my  dog  who  I  supposed  was  watching  it,  and  there  he 
lay  fast  asleep.  Shaking  him  vigorously  I  awoke  him 
and  pointed  to  the  place  where  the  parcel  had  been.  He 
uttered  a  short  bark  and  started  back  along  the  road. 

"About  a  half  hour  later  he  reappeared  dusty  and 
panting  but  with  the  parcel  in  his  mouth." 

"A  long  time  ago  when  none  of  us  were  living,  the 
rabbits  had  short  ears. 

"Well,  one  day  a  little  rabbit  went  out  into  the  field 
next  to  his  home  to  get  his  breakfast.  This  was  an 
ancestor  of  some  rabbit  that  lives  now.  Probably  if  you 
went  out  into  the  woods  you  would  find  his  descendant. 

"Anyway,  as  I  said,  he  was  going  to  get  his  breakfast 
in  a  field  near  his  house.  He  saw  a  great  many  carrots 
in  that  field,  and  because  all  rabbits  just  love  carrots  he 
ate  and  ate  and  ate  till  he  was  so  full  he  could  not  move. 


SOME   ADVERTISEMENTS  211 

When  his  mammy  called  him  he  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
Then  she  went  out  into  the  field  to  look  for  him.  She 
found  him  lying  on  the  grass,  crying  with  pain.  He  could 
not  walk  home  with  her  because  his  tummy  hurt  so 
awful,  so  his  mother  carried  him  home  by  the  ears,  for 
fear  of  hurting  him  if  she  carried  him  home  by  any  thing 
else.  His  ears  then  stretched  to  about  three  times  their 
size  of  course,  and  the  little  thing  screamed.  Now  no 
rabbit  can  be  safely  carried  home  by  anything  but  its 
ears." 

SOME  ADVERTISEMENTS 

203.  You  have  already  learned  that  when  you 
write  business  letters  it  is  very  necessary  to  stop 
to  inquire  of  yourselves  what  the  persons  to  whom 
you  write  the  letters  would  need  to  know.  This  is  an 
exceedingly  important  matter,  as  your  getting  what 
you  want  may  depend  largely,  or  perhaps  altogether, 
upon  what  you  write  and  how  you  write  it.  For 
example,  suppose  you  want  to  apply  for  positions  in 
answer  to  advertisements  like  the  following: 

BOY  WANTED.  We  have  an  unusually  good  opening 
in  our  correspondence  department  for  a  bright  young 
fellow  who  is  looking  for  a  permanent  position  where 
there  is  no  limit  to  the  opportunities  for  advancement. 
— Dole  &  McIntyre,  32  S.  Franklin  St. 

BOY  WANTED.  We  need  several  boys,  16  to  19 
years  of  age,  as  order  fillers,  stock  boys,  and  wrappers. 
Real  opportunities  for  live  boys. — Williamson  & 
Grubbs,  124  N.  State  St. 

OFFICE  BOYS.  Bright,  clean  boys  for  office  work. 
Good  future  for  those  energetic  enough  to  merit  ad- 
vancement.   Must  be  graduates  of  public  schools.    Bring 


212  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

school  certificates. — J.  B.  Allison  &  Co.,  23  Dearborn  St. 

ADDRESSERS  WANTED.  Girls  for  addressing  cir- 
culars and  catalogues.  Must  write  a  plain  hand. — Dole 
&  McIntyre,  32  S.  Franklin  St. 

WANTED,  Billing  Clerks.  Young  women  who  can 
figure  rapidly  and  accurately;  no  previous  experience 
necessary;  salary  at  first,  $8  per  week. — Williamson  & 
Grubbs,  124  N.  State  St. 

GIRLS.  We  need  bright,  ambitious  young  ladies 
between  16  and  17  years  old,  with  grammar  school 
education. — J.  B.  Allison  &  Co.,  23  Dearborn  St. 

One  of  these  advertisements  plainly  requires 
candidates  to  call  at  the  ofifice  of  the  advertiser,  and  ■ 
it  is  very  likely  that  personal  calls  would  be  better 
than  letters  in  the  other  cases.  In  the  personal 
interview,  however,  the  prospective  employer  finds 
out,  by  questioning,  all  that  the  candidate  would 
be  likely  to  say  in  a  letter,  and  even  more,  for  he 
then  has  the  opportunity  to  look  the  young  person 
in  the  eye  and  see  what  manner  of  person  he  is.  In 
many  cases  the  advertiser  does  not  have  his  name 
and  address  printed  at  the  bottom  of  the  advertise- 
ment, but  has  merely  some  such  sign  as  E  186,  fol- 
lowed by  the  name  of  the  newspaper  in  which  the 
advertisement  appears.  Under  these  circumstances 
the  boy  or  the  girl  is  compelled  to  write  to  the 
advertiser,  knowing  that  if  he  makes  a  good  impres- 
sion he  will  be  asked  to  call  and  present  his  case  in 
person.  Much,  therefore,  depends  upon  the  letter; 
what  you  say  is  important,  and  how  you  say  it  is 
important. 


SOME  ADVERTISEMENTS  213 

If  you  will  read  over  the  advertisements  carefully, 
you  will  find  out  sopie  of  the  things  employers 
require  in  their  employees.  Make  a  list  of  these 
requirements. 

In  addition  to  these  things,  employers  often 
wish  to  know  whether  their  prospective  employees 
live  with  their  parents  or  elsewhere,  whether  they 
have  had  any  experience  in  business,  and  whether 
they  are  unusually  strong  in  some  particular  branch 
of  school  work. 

Finally,  the  business  man  wants  a  letter  written 
by  the  applicant  himself,  and  he  wants  it  correctly 
written. 

Answering  an  Advertisement 

204.  Writing  letters  in  answer  to  such  advertise- 
ments as  appear  in  the  preceding  section  is  an 
exercise  that  may  be  kept  up  for  several  days  in 
succession. 

Whether  you  live  in  a  city  or  in  the  country,  you 
will  not  find  it  difficult  to  obtain  a  copy  of  a  city 
newspaper.  Search  the  "Help  Wanted"  columns 
for  advertisements  from  people  who  want  to  employ 
boys  and  girls,  assume  that  you  are  graduates  of 
grammar  schools,  and  write  answers  as  if  you  your- 
selves were  applying  for  the  positions. 

Exercise  in  Criticism 

205.  After  writing  the  letters  each  day,  or  on 
bringing  them  to  class  if  they  have  been  written  at 
home,  read  some  of  them  before  the  room  so  that  they 
may  be  criticized.     The  main  question  is,  of  course, 


214  1    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

to  determine  as  well  as  you  can  whether  the  letters 
would  be  likely  to  make  a  good  impression  on  busy 
business  men  who  want  capable  boys  and  girls  to 
work  for  them.  The  following  points  should  be 
considered  in  each  case: 

a.  Did  the  writer  say  just  enough  and  no  more? 

b.  In  writing  about  himself  did  he  seem  to  be  bragging? 

c.  Does  the  letter  seem  stiff  and  formal,  or  is  it  written 

in  a  free  and  easy  style? 

In  addition  to  these  questions  there  is  one  more. 
It  is  very  difficult  for  a  group  of  young  people  to  read 
directions  for  doing  a  certain  thing  without  all 
doing  the  thing  the  same  way.  Most  of  the  letters 
in  this  case,  for  example,  are  likely  to  sound  very 
much  alike.  If  there  are  any  letters,  however, 
that  are  suitable  in  other  respects  and  yet  are  some- 
what different  from  the  others,  you  should  mention 
this  fact  and  have  them  written  on  the  blackboard, 
for  they  are  deserving  of  praise. 

After  this  criticism  of  the  substance  of  many  of 
the  letters,  a  few  will  be  copied  on  the  black- 
board and  criticized  as  to  form.  Consider  the 
following  points: 

a.  Are  the  heading,  the  address,  the  salutation,  the 
complimentary  close,  and  the  signature  properly 
punctuated  and  in  good  form? 

h.  Does  the  writer  know  what  a  sentence  is,  and  has 
he  properly  punctuated  each  one  at  the  end? 

c.  Has  the  writer  used  punctuation  marks  within  the  sen- 

tence according  to  the  rules  you  recently  learned? 

d.  Has  he  correctly  used  capital  letters? 


SOME  ADVERTISEMENTS  215 

e.  Is  the  penmanship  good?  You  can  determine  this 
by  appointing  a  committee  from  among  your- 
selves to  examine  the  letters  carefully  and  decide 
which  letters  are  written  in  a  clear,  rapid  hand  and 
which  are  not. 

A  Caution  about  Capital  Letters 

206.  It  is  probable  that  some  of  you  have  written 
sentences  like  this :  I  am  a  graduate  oj  a  Grammar 
School  or  of  an  Elementary  School.  If  so,  why  did 
you  use  capital  letters  at  the  beginning  of  grammar, 
or  elementary,  school?  These  words  do  not  mean 
any  particular  school,  and  therefore  they  should  be 
begun  with  .small  letters.  If,  however,  you  should 
write  /  am  a  graduate  of  the  Third  Ward  Grammar 
School  or  /  am  a  graduate  of  the  Longfellow  Grammar 
School,  capital  letters  are  correct,  for  in  these  cases 
you  use  the  name  of  a  particular  school.  The  same 
rule  applies  in  the  case  of  high  schools. 

Group  Woiik 

207.  Get  some  more  "Help  Wanted"  advertise- 
ments, or,  if  you  prefer,  advertisements  of  a  different 
kind,  and  write  answers  to  them,  working  at  the 
blackboard  in  groups  as  you  have  done  formerly. 
This  work  will  be  kept  up  for  a  number  of  days, 
so  that  everybody  may  have  the  experience  of 
writing  under  the  supervision  of  others. 

Everything  that  you  have  learned  heretofore 
about  correct  grammar,  spelling,  the  meaning  of 
words,  and  punctuation  should  be  kept  in  mind  and 
used  if  necessary. 


2i6  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

TWO   INCORRECT  PHRASES 

208.  Have  you  formed  the  habit  of  improving 
your  EngHsh  whenever  you  can?  It  takes  constant 
care.  For  example,  since  you  have  been  studying 
this  book  you  have  doubtless  used  such  expressions 
as  I'm  kind  of  tired  and  I'm  sort  of  tired.  Now  it  is 
clear  that  you  may  speak  of  a  kind  of  animal  or 
a  kind  of  tree,  because  there  are  different  kinds 
of  animals  and  trees;  but  what  can  kind  of  tired,  or 
sort  of  tired  possibly  mean?  How  many  kinds  of 
''tired''  are  there?  When  you  use  these  phrases 
you  mean  somewhat  tired  or  rather  tired.  And  if  you 
mean  that,  why  not  say  it? 

SLANG 

209.  Probably  you  use  slang  sometimes,  too. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  slang — the  kind  that  means 
nothing  and  the  kind  that  means  something.  At 
the  time  this  book  was  being  written,  people  who 
did  n't  have  the  ability  to  say  what  they  meant, 
were  always  saying,  "What  do  you  know  about 
that?"  and  "I  should  worry."  The  objections  to 
these  remarks  are  that  they  mean  nothing,  and  that 
they  weary  the  hearer  from  their  frequent  repetition 
— they  become  mere  tiresome  rigmaroles.  On  the 
other  hand,  certain  slang  expressions  seem  to  be 
used  to  mean  only  one  thing,  and  these  are  dis- 
tinctly better  than  the  others.  ''Ring  off"  and 
"Your  wires  are  crossed"  are  among  them;  they 
have  definite  meaning,  and  are  very  effective, 
though,  it  must  be  confessed,  by  no  means  polite.    It 


SOME  DIFFICULT   WORDS  217 

is  clear,  too,  that  they  grow  out  of  our  daily  lives, 
for  they  are  telephone  slang.  In  time  they  may  be 
in  better  use  than  at  present.  If  you  must  use 
slang,  try  to  use  it  only  when  you  are  sure  that  it 
means  something. 

SOME  DIFFICULT  WORDS 

210.  Do  you  ever  use  such  expressions  as  most 
always f  This  is  a  mistake;  you  should  say  almost 
always.  That  is,  you  should  use  almost  in  the  sense 
of  nearly,  but  you  should  never  use  most  in  the  sense 
of  nearly. 

It  is  more  than  likely  that  you  sometimes  use 
such  expressions  as  a  grand  dinner  or  a  splendid 
supper.  Or  perhaps  you  say  We  had  a  grand  time, 
or  We  had  a  splendid  time,  or  We  had  an  elegant  time. 
If  you  use  such  expressions,  you  are  misusing  words. 

Grand  means  hig,  imposing.  So  when  you  say  a 
grand  dinner  you  are  saying  a  big  or  imposing  dinner, 
although  it  is  plain  that  you  mean  merely  a  delicious 
dinner.  It  is  correct  to  speak  of  a  grand  mountain 
or  a  grand  storm  at  sea,  but  to  speak  of  a  grand  dinner 
or  a  grand  supper  is  absurd. 

Splendid  means  shining,  showy.  If  you  speak  of 
a  splendid  supper  or  a  splendid  arithmetic  lesson,  do 
you  mean  a  shining  supper  or  a  shining  arithmetic- 
lesson?  It  is  correct  to  speak  of  a  splendid  sunset  or 
a  splendid  necklace,  but  some  of  the  common  uses 
of  the  word  splendid  are  very  foolish  indeed. 

Elegant  means  made  beautiful  by  art,  by  good  taste. 
Thus  you  may  speak  of  an  elegant  costume  if  you 


2i8  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

mean  that  the  dressmaker  has  beautified  it  by  her 
skill  and  taste;  but  when  you  say  an  elegant  time, 
you  mean  merely  an  enjoyable  or  a  pleasant  time. 

The  following  sentences  contain  correct  uses  of 
the  forms  of  these  words.     Tell  why : 

1.  The  capitol  at  Washington  is  one  of  the  grandest 
buildings  in  the  world. 

2.  Daniel  Webster  was  a  grand  man. 

3.  The  grandeur  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  plain  to 
the  dullest  minds. 

4.  The  splendid  queen  took  her  seat  upon  the  throne. 

5.  The  sky  was  unusually  splendid  that  night. 

6.  The  ball  had  all  the  splendor  of  an  oriental  court. 

7.  He  was  a  person  of  very  elegant  manners. 

8.  Elegance  characterized  every  part  of  my  aunt's  home. 

9.  The  writings  of  some  authors  are  very  plain  and 
simple,  while  those  of  others  are  extremely  elegant. 

Grand,  splendid,  and  elegant  are  not  words  that 
you  have  frequent  occasion  to  use;  when  you  do 
use  them,  be  sure  that  you  use  them  correctly. 

SOME   MORE  LETTERS   OF  FRIENDSHIP 

211.  Since  doing  your  last  group  work  you  have 
learned  something  of  two  incorrect  phrases,  the 
nature  of  slang,  and  how  to  use  certain  difficult 
words.  In  the  future,  when  you  write,  you  should 
be  very  careful  to  make  use  of  the  information  you 
have  just  gained.  Even  in  writing  to  your  most 
intimate  friends,  you  should  take  just  as  much  care 
as  if  you  were  writing  compositions  in  school. 

This  is  a  good  place  to  write  some  letters  of  friend- 
ship.    If  you  were  talking  with  one  of  your  friends 


REWORDING   SENTENCES  219 

you  would  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  a  great  deal 
to  say.  You  would  chatter  incessantly  about  your 
school  life,  the  studies  you  like  and  do  not  like,  the 
incidents  of  the  schoolroom,  and  your  plans  after 
graduation..  And  if  you  were  talking  about  your 
home  life,  you  would  tell  the  funny  things  that 
happen,  the  interesting  events  that  occur  from  time 
to  time ;  you  would  discuss  your  relations  with  your 
brothers  and  sisters  and  parents ;  and  your  studying 
at  home,  your  home  duties,  and  the  parties  and 
merrymakings  that  you  go  to  would  receive  their 
share  of  attention.  For  a  classroom  exercise,  then, 
write  letters  for  several  days  to  your  friends.  It 
would  be  well  to  write  such  letters  as  you  can  send. 


REWORDING   SENTENCES 
212.  Consider  the  following  groups  of  sentences: 

A 

1 .  The  old  gray  horse  was  pulling  a  wagon  loaded  with 
pumpkins. 

2.  The  horse,  which  was  old  and  gray,  was  pulling  a 
wagon  that  was  loaded  with  pumpkins. 

3.  The  horse,  old  and  gray,  was  pulling  a  wagon  loaded 
with  pumpkins. 

B 

1.  Jackson's  new  tug  came  into  the  harbor  towing  a 
water-logged  schooner. 

2.  Jackson's  tug — the  new  one — came  into  the  harbor 
towing  a  schooner  that  was  water-logged. 

3.  Jackson's  new  tug  came  into  the  harbor  with  a 
water-logged  schooner  in  tow. 


2  20  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR       ■ 

C 

1.  During  that  long,  cold  winter  there  was  not  a  day 
without  snow  and  bitter,  piercing  winds.     . 

2.  During  that  winter,  which  was  long  and  cold,  there 
was  not  a  day  when  there  was  no  snow  and  bitter,  pierc- 
ing winds. 

3 .  During  that  winter — a  long  and  cold  one — there  was 
no  snowless  day,  and  the  winds  were  bitter  and  piercing. 

4.  During  that  long,  cold  winter  there  was  no  day  that 
did  not  have  its  snow  and  its  bitter,  piercing  winds. 

D 

1 .  Our  reckless  but  fragile  friend,  Humpty-Dumpty ,  had 
a  fall,  and  was  broken  into  so  many  pieces  that  he  could 
not  be  put  together  again. 

2.  Humpty-Dumpty,  our  reckless  but  fragile  friend,  had 
a  fall,  and  was  broken  into  too  many  pieces  to  be  put 
together  again. 

3.  Our  friend,  Humpty-Dumpty,  who  was  both  fragile 
and  reckless,  had  a  fall,  and  was  damaged  beyond  repair. 

Each  of  these  groups  of  sentences  represents 
different  ways  of  saying  practically  the  same  thing. 
The  question  is,  How  does  grammar  account  for  the 
different  forms  of  expression? 

In  the  first  sentence  there  are  two  words,  "old" 
and  "gray,"  which  describe  "horse."  In  the  second 
sentence  it  is  the  clause,  "which  was  old  and  gray," 
that  describes  "horse."  In  the  third  sentence  the 
phrase,  "old  and  gray,"  describes  "horse."  That 
is  to  say,  there  are  three  ways  of  describing — with 
words,  with  phrases,  and  with  clauses. 

Again,  the  phrase  "loaded  with  pumpkins"  de- 
scribes "wagon"  in  the  first  and  the  third  sentence; 


REWORDING   SENTENCES  221 

but  in  the  second  sentence  the  clause,  "that  was 
loaded  with  pumpkins,"  is  the  descriptive  element. 

Such  descriptive  elements  are  called  adjectives,  ad- 
jective phrases,  and  adjective  clauses.  These  different 
ways  of  describing  account  for  most  of  the  variation 
in  expression  that  is  found  in  the  sentences  given. 

The  purpose  of  such  variation  of  expression  is  to 
find  the  way  that  sounds  best.  Sometimes,  too,  in 
writing  a  composition,  you  will  want  to  reword  a 
sentence  simply  because  it  is  constructed  like  the 
one,  or  the  two,  or  the  three  before  it,  which,  of 
course,  would  give  an  unpleasant  effect. 

Study  all  the  four  groups  of  example  sentences, 
determine  how  grammar  accounts  for  their  differ- 
ences of  structure,  and  consider  whether  some 
particular  one  of  each  group  is  better  than  the  others. 

213.  Write  several  sentences  and  put  each  into 
different  forms  by  first  using  words,  then  phrases, 
and  then  clauses  as  descriptive  constructions.  If 
you  wish  to  change  the  order  of  the  different  parts 
of  the  sentences,  do  so.  If  you  find  it  necessary  to 
change  altogether  the  wording  of  some  parts  of  the 
sentences,  do  so.  For  an  example,  see  the  last 
sentence  of  the  fourth  group  of  example  sentences. 

Determine  which  form  of  each  sentence  sounds 
best. 

Again,  take  the  second  line  from  Grey's  ''Elegy 
in  a  Country  Churchyard," — "The  plowman  home- 
ward plods  his  weary  way," — and  cast  it  into  as 
many  forms  as  possible  by  varying  the  order  of 
the  words  and  by  enlarging  "weary"  to  a  clause. 


22  2  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Note  that  this  word  may  modify  ' '  plowman "  if 
you  choose  to  make  it  do  so;  and  if  you  choose, 
you  can  change  it  to  wearily.  "Homeward"  may 
be  enlarged  to  the  phrase,  to  his  home. 

EXERCISE    IN    COMBINING    SHORT    SENTENCES 

214.  Here  is  a  story  about  Bre'er  Rabbit  and 
Bre'er  Lion: 

Bre'er  Lion  had  a  very  fine  garden.  He  had  planted 
carrots  in  it.  He  noticed  every  morning  that  some  of 
the  carrots  were  gone.  All  of  the  tops  were  chewed  off. 
He  thought  at  last  that  he  would  find  out  the  thief.  He 
hid  behind  a  box.     He  waited  for  the  thief. 

He  saw  Bre'er  Rabbit  approaching.  It  was  about 
twelve  o'clock.  Bre'er  Rabbit  began  to  eat  the  carrots. 
Bre'er  Lion  went  up  behind  him.  He  said,  "Ha,  ha! 
you  will  steal  my  carrots,  will  you?"  Then  he  put 
Bre'er  Rabbit  under  the  box.  He  said,  "Now  you  can 
stay  there  and  starve."  But  Bre'er  Rabbit  noticed  that 
there  was  grass  growing  under  the  box.  He  could  live 
on  that. 

Bre'er  Lion  thought  after  a  while  that  Bre'er  Rabbit 
was  dead.  He  peeked  into  the  box.  Bre'er  Rabbit  had 
heard  him  coming.  He  pretended  to  be  dead.  Bre'er 
Lion  kicked  the  box  away.  This  left  Bre'er  Rabbit 
lying  there.  Bre'er  Lion  went  into  the  house.  Then 
Bre'er  Rabbit  jumped  up.  He  said,  "Good-by,  Bre'er 
Lion!     I  can  live  on  grass." 

This  is  a  very  good  story,  but  how  monotonous 
and  tiresome  the  sentences  sound  as  you  read  them ! 
It  was  written  in  this  way  in  order  that  a  pupil's 
version,  written  from  memory  after  the  teacher  had 
read  the  original  form  of  the  story  to  the  class,  might 

15 


COMBINING   SHORT  SENTENCES  223 

be  contrasted  with  it.     The  pupil's  version  is  given 
below,  with  several  slight  corrections. 

"Bre'er  Lion  had  a  very  fine  garden,  in  which  he  had 
planted  some  carrots.  Every  morning  he  noticed  that 
some  of  his  carrots  were  gone,  and  that  all  of  the  tops 
were  chewed  off.  At  last  he  thought  he  would  find  out 
who  was  stealing  his  carrots,  so  he  hid  himself  behind  a 
box  to  wait  for  the  thief. 

''About  twelve  o'clock  he  saw  Bre'er  Rabbit  approach- 
ing his  garden,  and  begin  eating  his  carrots.  While 
Bre'er  Rabbit  was  eating  the  carrots,  Bre'er  Lion  went 
up  behind  him  and  caught  him  and  said,  'Ha,  ha!  you 
will  steal  my  carrots,  will  you?'  Then  he  put  Bre'er 
Rabbit  under  the  box,  and  said,  *  Now  you  can  stay  there 
and  starve.'  But  Bre'er  Rabbit  noticed  that  there  was 
some  grass  growing  under  the  box,  and  he  knew  he  could 
live  on  that. 

"At  last,  when  Bre'er  Lion  thought  Bre'er  Rabbit  was 
dead,  he  peeked  into  the  box.  Bre'er  Rabbit  heard  him 
coming,  so  he  lay  down  and  pretended  he  was  dead. 
Bre'er  Lion  kicked  away  the  box,  and  left  Bre'er  Rabbit 
lying  there,  and  he  went  into  the  house.  As  soon  as  he 
was  in  the  house,  Bre'er  Rabbit  jumped  up  and  said, 
'Good-by,  BrC'er  Lion!     I  can  live  on  grass.'  " 

The  pupil's  own  work  is  much  better  than  the 
other  form  of  the  story.  The  reason  is  that  in  one 
case  the  sentences  nearly  all  begin  with  the  subject, 
and  are  very  short.  In  order  to  have  smoothly 
flowing  composition  it  is  necessary  to  begin,  some- 
times at  least,  with  other  constructions  than  the 
subject,  and  to  vary  the  length  of  sentences  by 
combining  those  ideas  that  are  closely  related.     Let 

16 


22'4  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

US  see  how  this  is  accomplished  in  the  pupil's  version 
of  this  story. 

The  first  two  sentences  of  the  first  form  of  the 
story  are  "Bre'er  Lion  had  a  very  fine  garden" 
and  "He  had  planted  carrots  in  it."  The  first 
sentence  of  the  second  form,  the  one  written  by  a 
pupil,  is  "Bre'er  Lion  had  a  very  fine  garden,  in 
which  he  had  planted  some  carrots.''  That  is  to  say, 
the  thought  expressed  in  two  sentences  of  the  first 
form,  is  expressed  in  one  sentence  in  the  second 
form.  The  second  form,  the  pupil's,  is  the  better, 
because  the  part  printed  in  italics  is  descriptive  of 
"garden,"  and  should  therefore  be  a  subordinate 
clause  depending  upon  this  word.  In  other  words, 
the  two  thoughts  are  closely  related,  and  they  should 
be  written  in  one  sentence. 

The  third  sentence  in  the  first  form  is  "  He  noticed 
every  morning  that  some  of  the  carrots  were  gone." 
And  the  fourth  sentence  is  "All  of  the  tops  were 
chewed  off."  The  second  sentence  in  the  second 
form  is  "Every  morning  he  noticed  that  some  of 
his  carrots  were  gone,  and  that  all  of  the  tops  were 
chewed  off."  This  sentence  is  a  combination  of  the 
third  and  the  fourth  sentences  of  the  first  form. 
This  is  better  (a)  because  the  thoughts  are  closely 
related,  and  (b)  because  the  longer  sentence  avoids 
the  "choppy"  effect. 

Study  the  two  forms  further,  and  determine,  by 
comparison,  (a)  what  sentences  in  the  second  form 
are  combinations  of  sentences  in  the  first,  (b)  what 
sentences  are  simple,  what  complex,  what  compound, 


COMBINING   SHORT  SENTENCES  225 

and  what  complex-compound,  and  {c)  what  sen- 
tences begin  with  the  subject  and  what  with  some 
other  construction.  All  these  differences  are  the 
reasons,  in  terms  of  grammar,  for  the  pupil's  version 
being  better  than  the  other. 

Study  the  punctuation,  and  determine  whether  or 
not  it  is  good.  When  it  is  necessary,  refer  to  the 
rules  for  punctuation  in  section  199. 

EXERCISE    IN    COMBINING    SHORT   SENTENCES 

215.  There  appears  below,  one  of  Grimm's  House- 
hold Tales,  which  has  been  cut  up  into  short  sen- 
tences, so  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  story  about 
the  lion  and  the  rabbit,  it  sounds  very  monotonous. 
You  will  observe,  by  reading  it  carefully,  that  some 
of  the  sentences  should  be  combined  because  they 
are  closely  related  in  thought.  Rewrite  the  story, 
combine  those  sentences  that  ought  to  be  combined, 
and  take  pains  not  to  begin  all  the  sentences  with 
the  subject.  You  are  at  liberty  to  change  the  order 
of  the  words,  or  even  of  the  thoughts,  and  to  intro- 
duce new  words,  especially  connectives,  whenever 
you  deem  it  necessary.  For  example,  the  first  four 
sentences  might  be  combined  as  follows :  A  peasant 
had  a  faithful  horse,  hut  it  had  grown  so  old  that  it 
could  do  no  more  work,  and  its  master  would  no  longer 
give  it  anything  to  eat.  You  may  find  a  few  sen- 
tences that  you  need  not  combine  with  others. 

The  Fox  and  the  Horse 

A  peasant  had  a  faithful  horse.  It  had  grown  old.  It 
could  do  no  more  work.     His  master  would  no  longer 


226  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

give  him  anything  to  eat.  The  master  said,  "I  can  cer- 
tainly make  no  more  use  of  you.  Still  I  mean  well  by 
you.  If  you  prove  yourself  strong  enough  to  bring  me 
a  lion,  I  will  keep  you.  Now  take  yourself  away  out  of 
my  stable."  With  that  he  chased  him  into  the  open 
country.  The  horse  was  sad.  He  went  to  the  forest. 
He  sought  a  little  protection  there  from  the  weather. 
The  fox  met  him.  The  fox  said,  "Why  do  you  hang 
your  head  so  ?     Why  do  you  go  about  all  alone  ? ' ' 

The  horse  said,  ''Alas,  avarice  and  fidelity  do  not  dwell 
together  in  one  house!  My  master  has  forgotten  my 
services.  I  served  him  for  many  years.  I  can  no  longer 
plow  well.  He  will  give  me  no  more  food.  He  has  driven 
me  out." 

The  fox  asked,  "Without  giving  you  a  chance?" 

The  horse  replied,  "The  chance  was  a  bad  one.  He 
said  if  I  were  strong  enough  to  bring  him  a  lion,  he  would 
keep  me.     I  cannot  do  that.     He  well  knows  it," 

The  fox  said,  "I  will  help  you.  Just  lay  yourself 
down.  Stretch  yourself  out.  Be  as  if  you  were  dead. 
Do  not  stir." 

The  horse  did  as  the  fox  desired.  The  fox  went  to  the 
lion.  The  lion  had  his  den  not  far  off.  The  fox  said, 
"A  dead  horse  is  lying  outside  there.  Just  come  with 
me.     You  can  have  a  rich  meal." 

The  lion  went  with  him.     Soon  they  were  standing 

'by  the  horse.     The  fox  said,  "It  is  not  very  comfortable 

for  you  here.     I  will  tell  you  what  I  will  do.     I  will 

fasten  the  horse  to  you  by  the  tail.     You  can  then  drag 

it  into  your  cave.     You  can  devour  it  there  in  peace." 

This  advice  pleased  the  lion.  He  lay  down.  He  kept 
quiet.  This  was  so  the  fox  might  tie  the  horse  to  him. 
But  the  fox  tied  the  Ron's  legs  together  with  the  horse's 
tail.     He    twisted    it.     He    fastened    it    all    well.     No 


COMBINING  SHORT  SENTENCES  227 

strength  could  break  it.  Soon  he  had  finished  his  work. 
Then  he  tapped  the  horse  on  the  shoulder.  He  said, 
"Pull,  white  horse,  pull." 

The  horse  sprang  up  at  once.  He  drew  the  lion  with 
him.  The  hon  began  to  roar.  All  the  birds  in  the  forest 
flew  out  in  terror.  The  horse  let  him  roar.  He  dragged 
him  over  the  country.  He  drew  him  to  his  master's  door. 
The  master  saw  the  lion.  He  was  then  of  a  better  mind. 
He  said  to  the  horse,  "You  shall  stay  with  me.  You  shall 
fare  well." 

The  horse  was  then  taken  to  the  stable.  He  had  plenty 
to  eat  as  long  as  he  lived. 

216.  An  old  composition  will  be  copied  on  the 
blackboard.  Study  it  to  see  whether  closely 
related  thoughts  are  combined,  so  that  the  whole 
sounds  very  easy  and  natural  when  it  is  read  aloud. 

Group  Work 

217.  Write  at  the  blackboard  in  groups,  and 
notice  especially  whether  closely  related  thoughts 
are  combined  into  one  sentence.  Subordinate  ideas 
should  be  expressed  in  phrases  or  in  subordinate 
clauses.  Where  it  will  give  a  natural  and  pleasing 
effect,  shift  a  phrase  or  a  subordinate  clause  to  the 
beginning  of  a  sentence. 

For  subjects,  choose  something  from  your  geog- 
raphy or  history,  preferably  yesterday's  lesson. 

Study  in  Sentence  Structure 
'218.  The   passage   given   below   should   be   very 
thoroughly  analyzed,  and  with   the  constant   pur- 
pose of  determining  how  one  sentence  differs  from 


228  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

another  in  structure.  Incidentally,  the  difference 
in  length  may  be  noticed. 

The  following  order  is  suggested:  (a)  kind  of 
sentence  as  to  thought ;  (b)  kind  as  to  structure,  with 
mention  of  the  principal  clause  or  clauses,  and  of 
subordinate  clause  or  clauses;  (c)  mention  of  the 
verb,  and  modifiers,  of  the  principal  clause,  or  of 
the  first  principal  clause  if  there  are  more  than  one ; 
(d)  mention  of  the  subject,  and  modifiers,  of  the 
principal  clause,  or  of  the  first  principal  clause  if 
there  are  more  than  one;  (e)  the  same  treatment 
of  the  subordinate  clauses  modifying  the  principal 
clause  if  there  are  any,  or  of  the  first  principal  clause 
if  there  are  more  than  one;  (/)  the  same  general 
treatment  of  subsequent  principal  and  subordinate 
clauses  if  there  are  such.  Connectives  and  punc- 
tuation should  receive  constant  attention. 

"When  the  stone  was  pulled  up,  there  appeared  a  stair- 
case about  three  or  four  feet  deep,  leading  to  a  door. 
*My  son,'  said  the  African  magician,  'descend  those  steps 
and  open  that  door.  It  will  lead  you  into  a  palace  divided 
into  three  great  halls.  In  each  of  these  you  will  see  four 
large  brass  cisterns  placed  on  each  side,  full  of  gold  and 
silver;  but  take  care  you  do  not  meddle  with  them. 
Before  you  enter  the  first  hall,  be  sure  to  tuck  up  your 
robe,  wrap  it  about  you,  and  then  pass  through  the  second 
into  the  third  without  stopping.  Above  all  things, 
have  a  care  that  you  do  not  touch  the  walls  so  much  as 
with  your  clothes;  for  if  you  do,  you  will  die  instantly. 
At  the  end  of  the  third  hall  you  will  find  a  door  which 
opens  into  a  garden  planted  with  fine  trees  loaded  with 
fruit.    Walk  directly  across  the  garden   to  a  terrace, 


COMBINING  SHORT  SENTENCES  229 

where  you  will  see  a  niche  before  you,  and  in  that  niche 
a  lighted  lamp.  Take  the  lamp  down  and  put  it  out. 
When  you  have  thrown  away  the  wick  and  poured  out 
the  Hquor,  put  it  in  your  waistband  and  bring  it  to  me. 
Do  not  be  afraid  that  the  liquor  will  spoil  your  clothes, 
for  it  is  not  oil,  and  the  lamp  will  be  dry  as  soon  as  it  is 
thrown  out.' 

"After  these  words  the  Magician  drew  a  ring  off  his 

finger  and  put  it  on  one  of  Aladdin's,  saying,  'It  is  a 

taHsman  against  all  evil,  so  long  as  you  obey  me.     Go, 

therefore,  boldly,  and  we  shall  both  be  rich  all  our  lives.'  " 

The  Arabian  Nights:   "Aladdin,  or  the  Wonderful  Lamp" 

219.  The  following  passage  should  be  studied  in 
the  same  way  as  the  passage  from  ** Aladdin": 

When  Gluck  found  that  Schwartz  did  not  come  back, 
he  was  very  sorry,  and  did  not  know  what  to  do.  He 
had  no  money,  and  was  obliged  to  go  and  hire  himself 
again  to  the  goldsmith,  who  worked  him  very  hard,  and 
gave  him  very  little  money.  So,  after  a' month  or  two, 
Gluck  grew  tired,  and  made  up  his  mind  to  go  and  try 
his  fortune  with  the  Golden  River.  "The  little  king 
looked  very  kind, ' '  thought  he.  "I  don't  think  he  will  turn 
me  into  a  black  stone."  So  he  went  to  the  priest,  and  the 
priest  gave  him  some  holy  water  as  soon  as  he  asked  for 
it.  Then  Gluck  took  some  bread  in  his  basket,  and  the 
bottle  of  water,  and  set  off  very  early  for  the  mountains. 

If  the  glacier  had  occasioned  a  great  deal  of  fatigue  to 
his  brothers,  it  was  twenty  times  worse  for  him,  who  was 
neither  so  strong  nor  so  practiced  on  the  mountains. 
He  had  several  very  bad  falls,  lost  his  basket  and  bread, 
and  was  very  much  frightened  at  the  strange  noises  under 
the  ice.  He  lay  a  long  time  to  rest  on  the  grass,  after  he 
had  got  over,  and  began  to  climb  the  hill  just  in  the 


230  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

hottest  part  of  the  day.  When  he  had  cHmbed  for  an 
hour,  he  got  dreadfully  thirsty,  and  was  going  to  drink 
like  his  brothers,  when  he  saw  an  old  man  coming  down 
the  path  above  him,  looking  very  feeble,  and  leaning  on 
a  staff.  "My  son,"  said  the  old  man,  "I  am'  faint  with 
thirst;  give  me  some  of  that  water."  Then  Gluck  looked 
at  him,  and  when  he  saw  that  he  was  pale  and  weary,  he 
gave  him  the  water;  "Only  pray  don't  drink  it  all," 
said  Gluck.  But  the  old  man  drank  a  great  deal,  and 
gave  him  back  the  bottle  two  thirds  empty.  Then  he 
bade  him  good  speed,  and  Gluck  went  on  again  merrily. 
And  the  path  became  easier  to  his  feet,  and  two  or  three 
blades  of  grass  appeared  upon  it,  and  some  grasshoppers 
began  singing  on  the  bank  beside  it;  and  Gluck  thought 
he  had  never  heard  such  merry  singing. 

RusKiN,   The  King  of  the  Golden  River 

ANALYZING  AND  WRITING  SENTENCES 
220.  When  you  analyze  sentences  you  are  tearing 
them  down,  or  taking  them  apart.  On  the  other 
hand,  when  you  are  writing  a  theme  you  are  building 
up  sentences.  One  process  is  the  reverse  of  the 
other,  and  knowledge  of  one  is  likely  to  increase 
your  knowledge  of  the  other.  When  you  write 
hereafter,  singly  or  in  groups,  you  should  keep  in 
mind  the  various  points  about  grammar  that  you 
have  studied,  in  order  to  make  your  composition 
more  correct  and  more  agreeable  to  read.  All  this 
should  become  a  habit  with  you.  Especially  should 
you  take  care  to  vary  the  structure  of  your  sen- 
tences, for  your  tendency  may  be  to  begin  too  many 
with  the  subject.  It  is  true  that  most  of  them 
should  so  begin;  but  if  all  or  nearly  all  do  so,  the 


A    STUDY   OF  OLD    COMPOSITIONS  231 

effect  is  monotonous.  A  very  simple  rule,  and  one 
that  will  be  of  great  aid,  is  to  begin  an  occasional 
sentence  with  some  connective  word,  like  as,  when, 
if,  although,  after,  under,  upon,  at,  and  others,  if 
such  connective  word  would  naturally  be  used  at 
some  place  in  the  sentence.  This  will  cause  your 
beginning  construction  to  be  a  clause  or  a  phrase. 
You  should  take  great  care,  however,  not  to  write 
sentences  that  do  not  sound  well;  your  ear  should 
be  trusted;  it  is  likely  to  be  a  good  guide,  especially 
if  you  read  good  books  and  if  the  people  with  whom 
you  associate  use  good  English. 

A  STUDY  OF  OLD  COMPOSITIONS 
221.  You  have  been  studying  some  of  the  different 
ways  of  organizing  sentences,  and  you  have  learned 
that  it  is  often  desirable  to  remodel  some  that  you 
have  written.  Especially  is  this  true  if  all  the 
sentences  in  a  composition,  or  very  many  of  them, 
begin  with  the  subject;  and  if,  in  addition,  they 
are  all  about  the  same  length,  the  effect  is  very 
monotonous.  In  order  to  test  how  much  you  have 
learned  from  your  recent  study,  follow  the  following 
instructions : 

a.  Take   a   composition   that   you   wrote   some   time 

ago  and  read  it  over  carefully. 

b.  Note  whether  or  not  all  the  sentences  begin  with 

the  subject.  If  they  do,  or  if  very  many  of  them 
do,  consider  how  some  of  them  may  be  changed 
to  bring  some  other  construction  to  the  beginning. 
For  example,  if  you  find  such  a  sentence  as  / 
always  look  over  the  headings  and  the  subheadings 


232  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

before  I  begin  to  study  a  history  lesson,  and  you 
find  it  desirable  to  change  it,  you  can  do  so  by 
writing  the  subordinate  clause  first,  thus:  Before 
I  begin  to  study  a  history  lesson,  I  always  look  over 
the  headings  and  the  subheadings.  In  this  particular 
case  the  change  is  a  good  one  even  if  the  preceding 
sentences  did  not  all  begin  with  the  subject,  for 
now  the  emphatic  idea  is  at  the  end,  which  is  the 
more  emphatic  position. 

c.  Note  whether  the  sentences  are  all  about  the  same 

length.  If  they  are,  consider  how  you  can  com- 
bine some  of  them.  For  example,  if  you  find  two 
such  sentences  as  /  like  history  very  well.  I  do  not 
like  arithmetic,  you  can  combine  the  two  simple 
sentences  into  one  compound  sentence,  thus:  7  like 
history  very  well,  but  I  do  not  like  arithmetic.  How- 
ever, you  must  be  careful  not  to  make  any  sentence 
so  long  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  read. 

d.  Sometimes    you    can    lengthen    a    sentence    some- 

wha,t  and  make  it  sound  better  by  changing  a  word 
to  a  phrase  or  a  clause.  For  example,  /  reached  the 
school  building  late  that  day,  but  did  not  go  at  once 
to  my  room  may  be  changed  to  Although  it  was  late 
when  I  reached  the  school  building  that  morning,  I 
did  not  go  at  once  to  my  room. 

e.  Sometimes   you   will   find   it   desirable   to   shorten 

a  sentence.  This  can  often  be  done  by  changing 
a  clause  to  a  word  or  a  phrase.  For  example,  A 
horse,  when  he  is  balky,  should  be  treated  with  patience 
may  be  changed  to  A  balky  horse  should  be  treated 
with  patience.  This  kind  of  change  may  or  may 
not  be  desirable;  if  special  emphasis  is  necessary, 
the  first  form  of  the  sentence  is  better  than  the 
second. 


DISCUSSION  OF  A   PICTURE  233 

When  you  have  studied  an  old  composition 
through  carefully  in  this  way,  rewrite  it,  making  all 
the  changes  you  have  determined  upon,  and  con- 
sider whether  you  have  improved  it.  In  order  to 
get  the  opinion  of  others  upon  the  matter,  exchange 
compositions,  both  old  and  new,  and  have  confer- 
ences, giving  and  taking  criticisrn. 

Having  rewritten  one  composition  in  this  manner, 
take  up  another  in  the  same  way,  and  continue  to 
do  so  until  you  have  gained  some  power  to  improve 
your  compositions  as  wholes  by  improving  the 
sentences  of  which  they  are  composed. 

Written  Composition 

222.  Select  a  subject  from  one  o^  the  lists  in  the 
book,  or  choose  one  of  your  own,  and  write  a  com- 
position, taking  more  pains  than  ever  before  to 
make  your  work  sound  well.  A  smoothly  flowing 
piece  of  writing  may  be  made  by  varying  the  length 
and  structure  of  the  sentences  in  the  ways  you  have 
been  studying.  The  best  hint  that  can  be  given 
you  is  this:  Begin  some  of  your  sentences  with  the 
subordinate  clause. 

DISCUSSION   OF  A  PICTURE 

223.  Has  the  picture  opposite  page  234  attracted 
your  attention  ?  It  represents  one  scene  in  a  story — 
not  the  very  end  of  the  story,  but  a  part  very  near 
the  end.  For  a  story,  you  know,  is  a  train  of  events 
that  has  a  beginning,*  a  middle,  and  an  end.  In 
the  beginning  you  should  tell  all  about  the  persons 


234  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

and  places  that  the  reader  would  have  to  know  in 
order  to  understand  what  is  to  follow.  In  the 
middle  you  should  tell  all  the  events  that  lead  up 
to  the  end.  In  the  end  you  must  tell  the  events 
that  finish  the  story;  they  must  be  interesting,  and, 
if  possible,  unexpected  events.  If  you  talk  over 
the  questions  that  follow,  you  may  be  able  to  write 
a  very  good  story. 

a.  Where  is  the  scene  that  the  picture  presents? 

b.  What  kinds  of  sports  do  the  boys  and  girls  of  the 

neighborhood  engage  in? 

c.  Can  you  select  names  for  the  two  boys  and  the  girl 

in  the  motor  boat? 

d.  Which  one  of  the  three  do  you  select  for  the  hero  or 

the  heroine  of  the  adventure  ?     It  is  not  necessary, 
of  course,  for  all  to  select  the  same  one. 

e.  How  do  you  account  for  the  fact  that  the  three 

young  people  are  putting  off  in  a  boat?     What 

previous  events  might  account  for  it? 
/.  Why  does  the  girl  wave  a  telegram? 
g.  What  is  the  man  on  the  steamboat  so  much  excited 

about  ? 
h.  What  are  the  young  people  going  to  do? 
i.   When  they  have  accomplished  what  they  want  to 

do,  how  may  that  give  the  story  an  interesting  end? 

As  usual,  the  stories  need  not  all  be  alike.  In 
fact,  it  will  be  better  if  they  are  all  different. 
They  may  have  different  titles. 

Writing  and  Reading  Stories 

224.  After  your  discussion*  you  may  want  a  day 
or  two  to  think  over  the  story  you  are  going  to  write, 


TPAUt 


EXERCISES  IN  CRITICISM  235 

or  you  may  want  to  go  at  it  at  once  while  you  are 
in  the  humor.  Do  whichever  seems  best.  Write 
the  stories  at  home  if  so  directed. 

When  the  work  is  all  done,  some  of  you  will 
read  your  stories  to  the  room,  and  you  should 
answer  the  following  questions  about  each  one: 

a.  Did  the  writer  tell  in  the  beginning  all  that  you 
needed  to  know  in  order  to  understand  and  to 
like  what  followed? 

h.  Did  he  make  the  characters  interesting  persons? 

c.  Did  he  give  an  interesting  train  of  events  that  led 

up  to  the  end? 

d.  Was  the  end  interesting?     And  especially,  was  it 

surprising  ? 

e.  Did  the  writer  leave  anything  unexplained  in  the 

story?     If  he  did,  it  was  a  fault. 

EXERCISES  IN  CRITICISM 

225.  In  the  following  pages  are  printed  many 
compositions  written  by  pupils  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades.  Some  of  them  are  personal  experi- 
ences and  desires,  some  are  conversations  written 
from  memory,  some  are  stories  written  about 
pictures  in  the  magazines,  and  some  are  descriptions 
and  explanations  about  persons  and  things  the 
writers  had  seen  or  heard  of.  Before  they  were 
printed,  the  spelling,  which  was  not  always  what  it 
should  have  been,  was  corrected,  except  in  the  case 
of  the  omission  of  the  apostrophe  in  contractions. 
In  a  very  few  cases  where  there  were  mistakes  of 
an  unusual  sort  in  grammar  or  idiom,  the  wording 
was  Slightly  changed.     But  in  every  other  particular 


236  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

—  in  wording,  in  capitalization,  in  punctuation, 
and  in  paragraphing — the  compositions  stand  here 
just  as  they  were  written.  It  will  be  your  task  to 
criticize  them. 

In  each  case  one  of  your  number  will  stand 
before  the  class  and  read  the  composition  aloud. 
He  must  read  with  expression,  for  otherwise  it 
will  be  difficult  for  you  to  answer  some  of  the 
questions  that  will  be  asked,  especially  in  the 
matter  of  punctuation.  After  the  reading  of  a 
composition,  discuss  it  as  you  think  best,  paying 
special  attention  to  the  following  points: 

a.  Is  the  composition  a  complete  thing?     Or,  to  put 

the  matter  still  another  way,  does  the  writer  stick 
to  his  subject?     Does  he  finish  it? 

b.  Do  you  think  it  is  a  personal  experience  or  desire, 

a  conversation  written  from  memory,  a  story 
written  about  a  picture,  or  a  description  or  explana- 
tion of  something  the  writer  has  seen  or  heard  of? 

c.  If  it  is  not  a  story  written  from  a  picture,  consider 

whether  a  good  artist  could  draw  a  picture  illus- 
trating it.  If  so,  explain  in  detail  what  you  think 
the  picture  would  be. 

d.  Is   the   composition   written   in   a   straightforward 

manner  so  that  it  is  easy  to  read,  or,  on  the  con- 
trary, does  the  writer  get  "mixed  up"  in  his  telling, 
so  that  you  have  a  little  difficulty  in  understanding 
him?  If  the  latter  is  the  case,  determine  how  to 
correct  the  difficulty. 

e.  Did  the  writer  tell  enough  about  his  subject  to  make 

a  good  effect? 
/.  Do  you  consider  the  paragraphing  good?     If  not, 
how  would  you  change  it? 


EXERCISES  IN  CRITICISM  237 

g.  Are  capitals  well  used? 

h.  Consider  the  punctuation  in  detail — sentence  by- 
sentence— and  determine  whether  you  would 
make  any  changes.  Remember  that  too  much 
punctuation  is  as  bad  as  too  little. 

i.  Do  you  think  the  wording  is  good  throughout? 
That  is,  does  it  sound  right?  If  not,  how  would 
you  change  it  ? 

/.  Are  there  any  mistakes  in  grammar?  Of  course 
mistakes  in  grammar  are  among  those  mistakes 
that  do  not  sound  right. 

k.  Finally,  are  most  of  the  sentences  about  the  same 
in  length,  and  do  too  many  of  them  begin  with  the 
subject?  For  in  this  case  the  composition  sounds 
"choppy."  If  this  is  the  case,  consider  whether 
any  of  the  sentences  can  be  combined,  or  whether 
any  of  them  can  be  rearranged,  for  example,  by 
changing  the  position  of  a  subordinate  clause, 
or  by  changing  a  phrase  to  a  clause  or  a  clause 
to  a  phrase. 

Besides  these  suggestive  questions,  you  will  find 
a  few  extra  questions  after  the  compositions. 

Where  I  Would  Choose  to  Go 

If  I  had  my  choice  as  to  which  country  or  place  to  go 
I  would  choose  Panama. 

The  Panama  Canal  would  be  the  chief  object  in  going 
there.  I  would  like  to  see  the  modern  ways  of  excavating, 
mixing  cement,  dredging,  and  working  to  its  greatest 
extent.  I  think  that  all  the  machinery  in  use  on  the 
Panama  Canal  and  in  the  Canal  Zone  is  having  a  severe 
test  as  to  usefulness  and  work.  I  would  like  to  see  the 
Gatun  Dam,  spillway  and  locks.     The  Greatest  of  all 


238  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

is  the  work  of  the  locks  how  the  water  is  let  in  and  out, 
the  great  gates  lower  the  boats  thirty  ft  at  a  time. 

This  would  be  the  most  interesting  to  me. 

I .  Do  you  approve  of  abbreviating  jeet  in  the  body 
of  a  composition?  2.  Does  the  last  sentence  of  the 
second  paragraph  meet  your  approval? 

A  Changed  Opinion 

When  I  was  about  four  years  old,  to  go  to  the  dentist 
seemed  a  very  terrible  thing  to  me.  When  Mamma  said 
that  I  had  to  go,  all  of  the  stories  that  I  had  ever  heard 
about  dentists  came  rushing  into  my  mind.  I  pictured 
the  dentist  as  some  horrible  monster,  who  gloried  in  hurt- 
ing little  children.  I  dreamed  of  it  all  night,  and  when 
morning  came,  I  had  such  a  bad  tooth-ache  I  simply  had 
to  go  to  that  awful  dentist.  When  I  got  there,  and  opened 
the  door,  a  kindly  faced  man  greeted  me,  "How  do  you 
do  little  girl,"  he  said,  and  spoke  so  kindly  that  all  of  my 
imaginations  of  the  day  before  vanished  into  thin  air, 
and  I  rather  liked  to  go  to  that  dentist  after  that. 

The  word  dentist  is  used  so  often  as  to  make  an 
unpleasant  effect.  Can  you  rewrite  at  least  one 
sentence  in  such  a  way  as  to  avoid  using  the  word  ? 

An  Early  Morning  Cry 

When  I  was  small  I  liked  rolled  oats  very  much. 

As  soon  as  I  was  dressed,  I  screamed  down  the  back 
stairs,  "Oatgeal  ready  Emma?"  One  morning  I  asked 
her  this  question,  and  instead  of  her  usual,  "Yes,  Baby," 
she  said,  "No."  "Why  not?"  I  said  pouting.  "Now, 
look  here,  Miss  Baby,  the  groceryman  did  not  come  yes- 
terday, to  bring  your  rolled  oats,  and  you  must  see  it  was 
not  my  fault;  besides  I  have  fixed  you  two  whole  eggies." 


EXERCISES  IN  CRITICISM  239 

"Nobody  wants  your  old  eggies.  Me  wants  my  oat- 
gcal,"  and  by  this  time  I  was  crying  in  earnest. 

Just  than  my  mother  came  in,  and  asked  what  the 
trouble  was. 

"Bad  Emma,  got  no  oatgeal,"  I  sobbed. 

"Well,  Baby,  you  can  eat  something  else  for  a  change,'' 
said  my  mother. 

"Don't  want  nothin'  else,  me  wants  oatgeal." 

"Baby  you  are  going  to  eat  eggs,  and  be  a  good  girl," 
said  my  mother  sternly. 

"I  won't  eat  nothin'  then." 

I  did  n't  accept  a  small  piece  of  bread  and  some  water. 
At  dinner  I  forgot  to  be  stubborn. 

Is  the  end  of  this  composition  altogether  clear? 
If  not,  how  can  you  make  it  so? 

The  Ninth  Inning 

It  was  the  deciding  game  between  the  Reds  and  Blues. 
The  Reds  were  ahead  in  the  ninth  inning;  and  the  Blues 
were  at  bat.  The  score  was  five  to  one.  Cross  was  the 
first  batter.  There  was  silence  in  the  throng  when  the 
Blue,  heavy  hitter  stepped  up  to  the  plate.  He  hit  a 
fly  to  Dick  Ross  in  center  field.  The  next  batter  was 
Sanders.  He  hit  past  Clay,  and  was  safe  at  first.  Good 
hit. a  long  fly  to  Ross.  Bronson  was  the  next  batter,  and 
he  singled  past  Lowell. 

Sanders  was  on  second  base  and  Bronson  on  first  and 
Archie  up  to  bat.  He  lined  a  single  over  second  base; 
Sanders  scoring  and  Bronson  going  to  second  base.  Con 
Wilkins  was  the  next  batter,  hittifig  in  a  pinch  for  Lloyd. 
There  was  silence  in  the  Grand  Stand.  Most  of  the 
noise  came  from  the  Bleachers  and  Pavillion.  The 
deciding  moment  of  the  game  had  come.  Wilkins  hit 
a  fast  one  to  Brown  at  second  base,  who  fumbled  the  ball 

17 


240  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

for  a  while,  but  snapped  it  to  Watson  in  time  to  get 
Archie  at  second.     It  was  all  over  and  the  Reds  won. 

Were  you  disappointed  when  you  reached  the  end 
of  this  composition  ?  How  could  the  end  be  changed 
so  as  to  avoid  the  effect  of  disappointment? 

A  Country  and  City  Fire  Alarm 

On  the  fire  house  door  in  a  country  town,  there  is  one 
small  box,  with  a  glass  cover.  In  this  box  there  is  a  rope, 
which  rings  a  large  bell,  in  case  of  fire.  You  run  to  this 
box  break  the  cover  and  pull  the  rope.  By  ringing  this 
bell  any  one  can  give  the  signal  to  the  firemen. 

In  Chicago  one  may  go  to  the  store  nearest  the  fire  box 
and  get  the  key,  open  the  fire  box,  pull  down  a  lever 
which  rings  a  bell  at  the  fire  department  house.  A  tape 
comes  out  of  a  glass  case  with  a  certain  number  of  dashes, 
indicating  where  the  fire  is. 

Is  this  composition  altogether  clear  at  the  end  ?  - 

A  Game  I  Have  at  Home 

An  old  bread  board  was  taken  and  thirteen  hooks  were 
screwed  in,  in  various  places.  Numbers  from  an  old 
calendar  were  cut  out  and  pasted  under  the  hooks,  with 
number  thirteen  in  the  center.  Twelve  jar  rubbers  were 
used  in  playing  this  game  which  is  called  "One  Hundred 
and  One."  The  persons  playing  this  game  stand  about 
six  feet  away  from  this  game,  which  hangs  on  the  wall, 
and  each  one,  throws  each  of  the  twelve  rubbers  and  tries 
to  throw  them  on  the  hooks.  Each  number  the  rubber 
catches  onto  is  added  up,  and  if  one  gets  one  hundred  and 
one  he  wins  the  game.  If  one  gets  more  than  that  number, 
he  has  to  start  all  over  from  the  beginning  again  which 
commences  a  new  game. 


EXERCISES  IN  CRITICISM  241 

Isn't  it  clear  that  the  writer  of  this  composition 
began  by  telHng  how  the  board  was  made  and  the 
game  played  on  some  particular  occasion,  and  then 
suddenly  changed  his  idea  and  told,  in  general, 
how  the  game  is  played?  How  would  you  correct 
this  fault  of  composition? 

Two  Music  Teachers 

I  have  had  experience  with  two  music  teachers,  Mr. 
Simmons  and  Mr.  Treat.  Both  of  them  are  very  good 
teachers,  but  each  has  an  entirely  different  method  of 
teaching.  The  former  is  very,  very  cross,  and  very 
particular.  He  keeps  a  lead  pencil  in  his  hand  all 
the  time  he  is  giving  a  lesson;  and  if  one's  hands  get 
out  of  position  or  the  slightest  mistake  is  made,  he 
gives  a  "whack"  across  the  fingers  and  not  a  gentle 
one   either. 

Mr.  Treat  does  not  teach  by  injuring,  but  when  he 
says  a  thing  he  means  it ;  and  says  it  in  such  a  way  that 
one  knows  he  means  it.  From  one  I  learned  from  fear 
and  from  the  other  I  learned  from  love.  I  prefer  the 
latter. 

Woulid  not  the  second  part  of  the  second  sentence 
be  better  if  changed  to  but  they  have  entirely  different 
methods  of  teaching  or  hut  each  has  a  method  oj 
teaching   entirely  different  from  the  other's  f     Why  ? 

A  very  flighty  elderly  woman  with  a  polite  and 
patient  ticket-agent 

"The  train  leaves  at  eight-thirty  a.m.  madam,"  said 
the  ticket  agent,  in  reply  to  a  slightly  deaf  but  very 
precise  elderly  woman. 

"When?" 


242  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

"At  eight-thirty  madam." 

"Morning  or  evening?" 

"In  the  morning." 

"Its  a  wonder  they  wouldn't  have  their  trains  leave  a 
little  later,  so  that  a  body  could  have  a  little  sleep.  I 
declare  one  would  have  to  get  up  at  six  o'clock.  One 
could  n't  get  the  cobwebs  out  of  ones  eyes  in  that  tims, 
let  alone  hurrying  for  a  train.  Well,  how  much  is  th? 
ticket?" 

"Thirty  eight  cents  mam." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  said  thirty  eight  cents  mam,"  replied  the  patient 
ticket  agent. 

"I  dont  see  how  that  can  be,  snapped  Mrs.  Brown, 
these  thieving  railroad  companies  ask  enough  without 
a  low  little  ticket  agent  tacking  on  a  few  cents  for  his  own 
benefit." 

"I  assure  you  madam" — began  the  ticket  agent. 

"Tut  —  tut  you  need  n't  tell  me  anything  else,  I  know 
all  about  it.  Now  give  me  my  ticket,  heres  your  thirty 
cents." 

"I  said  thirty  eight  cents,"  corrected  the  agent. 

"There  you  go  again!  I  know  perfectly  well  you 
did  n't  say  that  at  first.  Well  here  it  is,  now  pray,  may 
I  have  my  ticket?" 

The  agent  politely  handed  it  to  her,  and  took  the  money 
in  return.  Mrs  Brown  minced  out  of  the  ticket  office, 
mumbling  something  about,  "thieving  railroad  com- 
panies." 

I.  Has  the  writer  been  consistent  in  the  use  of 
the  apostrophe,  the  period  for  abbreviations,  the 
hyphen  in  numbers,  and  in  paragraph  indentation? 
2.  Do  you  notice  anything  unusual  about  the  title? 


EXERCISES  IN  CRITICISM  243 

"If  he  had  Only  Known" 

"Excuse  me,  but  will  you  kindly  tell  me  where  to  change 
cars  for  Salt  Lake  City,"  said  a  gentleman  addressing  a 
ticket  agent. 

"Say,  what  do  you  think  I  am,  a  bureau  of  information. 
Heres  a  time  table,  look  it  up  for  yourself,"  was  the  curt 
reply. 

"Yes,  but  the  time  table  doesn't  give  what  I  want  to 
know.  A  new  schedule  has  been  put  on.  Would  you 
be  so  kind  as  to  answer." 

"  r  11  be  so  kind  as  to  tell  you  I  have  no  time  to  bother 
with  you,  and  if  you  want  to  know  go-  down  to  the  bureau 
of  information,"  was  the  rude  answer. 

"  Look  here  young  man,  I  think  you've  about  gone  your 
limit  if  this  is  the  way  you  treat  the  public.  You  had 
better  come  out  from  there.  We  won't  need  your  serv- 
ices any  longer,  sir. 

"Well!  who  do  you  think  you  are,"  was  the  cool  reply. 

"I  happen  to  be  the  president  of  this  road,"  was  the 
surprising  answer. 

I .  Do  you  think  the  president  of  a  railroad  would 
not  know  where  to  change  cars  on  his  own  road? 
2.  Do  you  think  this  composition  is  well  punctu- 
ated? What  important  mark  is  most  frequently 
omitted?     3.  What  do  you  notice  about  the  title? 

The  Locomotives  of  1879  and  19 13 

The  largest  locomotive  in  1879  weighed  about  thirty 
five  tons.  It  was  what  we  call  a  common  eight  wheel 
engine,  whose  cylinders  were  fifteen  inches  in  diameter 
and  the  piston  has  a  stroj^e  of  twenty  two  inches.  It 
was  capable  of  making  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  an  hour 
with  three  or  four  small  coaches. 


244  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

The  twentieth  century  engine  travels  at  a  rate  of  sixty 
to  seventy  miles  an  hour.  It  weighs  one  hundred  fifty 
tons  with  cylinders  twenty  eight  inches  in  diameter  and 
the  stroke  of  the  piston  is  twenty-eight  inches.  These 
engines,  will  carry  sixteen  coaches  three  times  the  size 
of  the  coaches  of  the  old  models. 

I .  Has  the  writer  been  consistent  in  the  use  of  the 
hyphen  in  numbers?  2.  Do  you  find  a  principal 
clause  which  should  have  been  a  subordinate 
clause  ?  3 .  Do  you  find  a  phrase  which  should  have 
been  a  principal  clause? 
The  Difficulties  of  the  Suez  and  the  Panama  Canals 

The  difficulties  in  the  building  of  the  Suez  canal  were 
few.  The  main  difficulty  was  in  keeping  the  sand  from 
caving  in  after  the  canal  had  been  dug.  The  company 
had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with  this  sand.  They  would 
dig  the  bed  of  the  canal  out  only  to  have  it  cave  in  again 
in  a  short  time.  They  finally  solved  the  difficulty  by 
putting  a  cement  wall  on  either  side  of  the  canal  to  hold 
back  the  sand.  This  plan  works  very  well  although 
steamers  cannot  go  through  the  canal  at  full  speed  for 
fear  of  washing  the  banks.  The  excavation  was  very 
easy  because  the  soil  is  mostly  sand,  sandy  clay  and  hard 
clay.  The  excavation  was  done  with  dredges  which  float 
on  the  surface  of  the  water  and  extract  great  quantities 
of  dirt.  The  Suez  canal  had  its  difficulties  but  they 
were  as  nothing  as  compared  with  the  problems  of  the 
engineers  in  building  the  Panama. 

The  Panama  canal  was  a  series  of  difficulties  which 
had  to  be  solved  before  the  canal  could  be  made.  The 
canal  runs  through  a  rocky  mountainous  region  which 
must  be  passed.  The  mountains  in  Panama  were  over- 
come by  means  of  locks.     This  difficulty  cost  the  canal 


^      EXERCISES  IN  CRITICISM  245 

company  millions  of  dollars.  Another  great  difficulty 
was  the  question  of  what  to  do  with  the  flood  water  from 
the  mountain  streams.  This  question  was  solved  by  the 
engineers  who  knew  what  they  were  doing.  The  two 
canals  are  alike  in  the  purpose  of  connecting  ocean  with 
ocean  but  were  built  under  very  different  ctrcumstances. 
I.  Does  the  title  express  exactly  what  the  writer 
intended?  2.  The  word  canal  is  used  so  often  that 
the  effect  is  unpleasant.  Can  you  think  of  any 
ways  in  which  to  decrease  the  number  of  times  the 
word  is  used?  3.  Was  the  Panama  Canal  made  by 
a  company? 

A  Modern  City  and  a  Modern  Country  school 

The  new  Gary  school  has  a  great  many  different  courses. 
The  purpose  of  this  school  is  to  educate  the  children  of  the 
mill  workers.  The  children  can  take  a  regular  course  of 
English,  spelling,  arithmetic,  and  woodwork,  or  an  addi- 
tion of  foundry,  iron,  or  about  any  kind  of  work  they  wish 
to  take. 

The  modem  country  school  has  also  a  regular  English 
course,  but  instead  of  trades  being  taught  it  teaches 
farming.  Com  clubs  are  organized  and  prizes  awarded 
for  the  best  specimens.  The  girls  have  their  chance  to 
win  prizes  in  canning  the  things  the  boys  produce.  In 
every  way  possible  the  country  schools  are  being  made  as 
attractive  as  to  keep  the  pupils  as  interested  as  possible 
in  farm  life. 

I .  Have  you  discovered  that  this  writer,  like  some 
of  the  others,  has  not  been  consistent  in  the  use  of 
capitals  in  the  title?  2.  Have  you  anything  to  say 
about  the  indentation  of  first  lines  of  paragraphs? 
3 .  How  do  you  like  the  last  sentence  ? 


2  46  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

A  Christmas  Morning  in  Cuba  and  Chicago 

Christmas  morning  in  Cuba  is  usually  warm  and 
sunny.  The  children  arise  early  and  go  out  hunting  for 
a  young  banana  tree.  When  they  find  one  they  trans- 
plant it  into  a  large  box.  They  then  set  it  in  the  front 
yard  and  trim  it  up  with  inexpensive  presents  which 
contain  a  number.  After  a  few  preparations  have  been 
made  the  children  of  the  neighborhood  are  invited  to 
attend  the  party.  They  play  games  and  dance  around 
the  tree  for  hours.  When  they  have  finished  playing 
they  are  passed  a  slip  of  paper  with  a  number  on  it.  The 
hostess  then  takes  them  in  turn  and  whatever  number 
they  have  on  the  ticket  they  get  the  present  which  has 
that  number  on  the  tree.  Sometimes  there  are  a  few 
presents  left  over  and  they  have  a  scramble.  But  where 
is  Santa?     nothing  is  said  of  him. 

No  the  Cuban  children  have  no  Santa  Claus.  After 
this  they  all  sit  in  a  circle  and  they  are  passed  a  large  piece 
of  black  cake  with  alcohol  poured  over  it.  The  hostess 
then  comes  around  with  a  torch  and  sets  it  afire  which 
pours  forth  a  large  blue  blaze.  This  is  the  most  fun  of 
the  party.  The  cake  is  then  eaten  and  they  give  a  Cuban 
thank  you  and  return  to.  their  homes. 

On  Christmas  morning  in  Chicago  almost  every  one 
goes  to  church  early  in  the  morning.  It  is  usually  a  cold 
snowy  day.  The  children  also  arise  early  to  see  what 
Santa  has  brought  them.  Many  of  us  have  Christmas 
trees  trimmed  with  tinsel  and  many  sparkHng  trinkets. 
The  most  fun  of  our  Christmas  is  receiving  presents  and 
having  a  good  dinner. 

I .  Does  the  writer  make  himself  perfectly  clear  the 
first  time  he  uses  the  word  number  f  2.  How  do 
you  like  the  punctuation  of  this  composition? 


EXERCISES  IN   CRITICISM  247 

An  Experience  in  the  Dark 

One  evening  as  I  was  walking  through  one  of  the  dark 
aisles  of  a  country  theater  feeling  my  way  for  a  seat,  I  put 
my  hand  right  in  the  face  of  someone.  Turning  around 
and  excusing  myself  I  proceeded  down  the  aisle.  I  had 
not  gone  far  when  I  felt  a  seat  which  I  thought  to  be 
empty.  I  sat  down,  but  oh  dear!  what  was  I  sitting  on? 
That  very  moment  a  baby  began  to  cry,  and  then  there 
was  a  crash  of  glass.  I  jumped  up,  feeling  embarrassed, 
pardoned  myself  again,  and  went  to  look  for  something 
to  wipe  the  niilk  off  the  floor. 

I .  Do  you  think  the  writer  of  this  short  composition 
would  have  made  a  better  effect  if  she  had  told  pre- 
cisely how  she  felt  when  she  put  her  hand  on  that  face 
in  the  dark  ?  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  do  you  think  the 
story  is  better  because  it  is  very  brief?  2.  In  the 
last  sentence  does  the  writer  say  just  what  she  means  ? 

My  Favorite  Hobby 

If  my  favorite  hobby  were  granted  you  would  find  me 
in  the  Northern  woods  of  Canada  where  the  pines  firs 
and  spruces  sway  to  and  fro  in  the  cold  night  air.  I  can 
shut  my  and  see  myself  clad  in  fur  skins  squatting  beside 
a  roaring  fire  eating  a  piece  of  fresh  venison.  Then  after- 
ward crawl  into  a  fur  sleeping  bag  and  listen  to  the  wolves 
call  to  their  mates  until  I  fall  into  sleep  and  dream  of  a 
hot  sultry  city.  When  I  wake  in  the  morning  with  the 
stars  still  shining  to  eat  a  slab  of  bacon  and  drink  a  cup 
of  coffee  I  wish  I  could  live  forever  in  that  way.  We  then 
hitch  the  dogs  to  the  pack  sleds  and  we  start  for  Camp 
Daly  on  the  river  leading  to  Baker  Lake.  I  hear  a  foot- 
step crunching  the  snow,  someone  slaps  me  on  the  back 
and  I  very  faintly  catch  the  words  it  is  twelve  o'clock 
and  your  bed  is  ready  for  you  ^ir, 


2  48  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

I.  Is  it  idiomatic  to  speak  of  granting  el  hobby? 
Can  you  improve  the  expression  here?  2.  Do  you 
find  anything  in  the  second  sentence  to  indicate 
that  the  writer  did  not  read  his  composition  over 
very  carefully  after  he  had  written  it?  3.  Answer 
the  same  question  in  regard  to  the  third  sentence. 
4.  Do  you  find  anything  in  the  composition  to 
indicate  that  it  contains  a  quotation?  5.  How  do 
you  like  the  picture  the  writer  presents?  6.  Can 
you  improve  the  punctuation  ? 

The  Game  I  Like  Best 

The  game  I  like  and  enjoy  most  is  a  good  well  played 
game  of  base  ball.  The  reason  why  I  like  this  game  is 
that  it  gives  the  body  good  exercise  and  keeps  the  mind 
working.  For  instance  if  the  game  had  been  hard  fought 
and  a  close  score  one  would  most  likely  try  to  outwit  his 
opponent  as  he  is  fighting  for  the  game  as  if  he  were 
fighting  for  gold. 

In  this  game  each  one  is  responsible  whether  he  pitches 
or  plays  first  base. 

If  a  man  is  on  third  base  and  a  good  batter  up  the 
pitcher  likely  will  walk  him  if  he  has  been  hitting  the  ball 
very  far  during  the  first  part  of  the  game.  At  this  the 
pitcher  will  work  hard  to  get  rid  of  the  man,  for  a  hit 
might  win  the  game. 

Do  you  consider  the  punctuation  of  this  composi- 
tion as  good  as  it  might  be? 

What  Happened  over  Night 

"Oh,  don't  put  the  window  up,"  Ethel  pleaded  as  we 
were  just  ready  to  get  into  bed. 

"  It  is  n't  at  all  healthy  to  sleep  with  the  window  down," 
I  answered  in  a  superior  tone. 


EXERCISES  IN  CRITICISM  249 

So  up  went  the  window  as  high  as  I  could  get  it. 

The  next  morning  thie  snow  was  at  least  two  inches 
deep  on  the  floor. 

"Now  see  what  happened  just  because  you  put  the 
window  up,"  said  Ethel  much  amused.  "Now  wade  out 
there  and  get  it  down  before  I  get  up." 

I  lost  my  superior  air  as  I  crept  out  of  my  warm  bed 
into  the  cold  wet  snow. 

The  paragraphs  are  very  short  here.  Of  course 
a  paragraph  is  not  always  poor  because  it  is  short, 
but  sometimes  it  is.  Consider  whether  this  composi- 
tion would  be  better  or  worse  if  the  fourth  paragraph 
contained  more  description  of  what  the  girls  saw 
and  felt  when  they  awoke  in  the  morning. 

A  Description  of  a  Stone  Quarry 

This  quarry  is  surrounded  by  desolate  prairie  lands 
through  which  a  railroad  runs.  The  opening  to  the  very 
deep  pit  is  a  sloping,  deeply  rutted  road.  There  may  be 
men  making  holes  for  the  dynamite  or  fixing  fuses  along 
the  edge  of  the  pit.  Thirty-five  fuses  are  attached  to  one 
long  fuse  and  lighted.  The  blast  blows  off  great  chunks 
of  stone  which  are  broken  into  smaller  pieces  and  put 
into  the  crusher.  The  limestone  is  in  compact,  irregular 
layers  which  vary  greatly  in  size.  In  the  quarry  there 
may  be  two  different  kinds  of  stone,  the  stone  from  which 
lime  is  made  and  the  stone  from  which  crushed  stone  is 
made.  The  difference  is  that  the  stone  made  into  lime 
is  much  whiter  than  the  more  yellow  stone  made  into 
crushed  stone.  There  is  a  large  building  to  be  seen  near 
the  quarry  in  which  are  a  crusher  and  a  Hme  smelting 
furnace. 

I.  In  this  short   composition  several  topics  are 


^5<^  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

mentioned — the  surroundings  of  the  quarry,  the 
pit,  the  use  of  dynamite,  the  different  kinds  of  stone 
found  in  the  quarry,  and  the  building.  If  the 
writer  had  had  several  lesson  periods  in  which  to 
write  the  composition,  or  if  he  had  written  it  at  his 
leisure  at  home,  do  you  not  think  he  could  have  told 
a  great  deal  more  about  each  one  of  these  topics? 
Determine  what  he  might  have  added.  2 .  The  word 
stone  is  used  so  much  in  the  last  few  lines  of  the  com- 
position that  the  repetition  becomes  unpleasant.  Can 
you  think  of  ways  to  avoid  using  the  word  so  often? 
Select  some  subjects  for  composition.  You  have 
done  much  and  thought  much  and  felt  much  in  your 
short  lives,  and  these  things  would  be  of  interest  if 
well  told.  Spend  a  few  days  telling,  before  the 
class,  things  that  have  interested  you,  and  then,  for 
two  or  three  days,  write  some  of  the  things  you 
have  told. 

WRITING  A  COMPOSITION  FROM  AN   OUTLINE 

226.  While  studying  this  book  you  have  spoken 
an4  written  many  times,  and  you  have  learned  the 
importance  of  organizing  what  you  have  to  say; 
that  is,  you  have  learned  the  importance  of  preparing 
a  plan,  or  outline.  Sometimes  you  have  been  given 
help  in  making  the  outline,  but  now  you  must 
select  a  subject  and  carry  all  the  work  through  to 
the  end  without  any  help  whatever.  If  one  of  the 
subjects  given  below  pleases  you,  use  it;  otherwise, 
choose  your  own  subject.  You  will  probably  have 
to  write  through  several  English  periods. 


WRITING   A   COMPOSITION   FROM  OUTLINE     251 

My  Experience  in  Writing  and  Speaking  in  School 

My  Experience  in  the  Manual  Training  Shop 

My  Experience  in  the  Domestic  Science  Room 

My  Experience  in  Farming  and  Gardening 

My  Experience  with  Cattle,  Chickens,  and  Other  Live 

Stock 
My  Experience  in  Mending  and  Making  Dresses 
My  Experience  in  Making  Butter 
My  Experience  in  Tinkering  about  the  House 
My  Experience  in  Keeping  House 
How  My  School  Work  Has  Helped  Me  in  Home  Duties 
Factories  I  Have  Visited 
Farms  I  Have  Visited 
Other  Schools  and  Ours 
People  I  Have  Worked  For 
Pets  I  Have  Owned 
My  Home  Reading 

Outlines  from  Other  People's  Compositions. 

227.  After  each  of  you  has  prepared  an  outline 
and  written  a  composition  from  it,  exchange  papers, 
read  them  carefully,  consider  what  topics  are 
treated,  arrange  them  in  their  proper  order,  and  you 
will  have  made  outlines  of  what  others  have  written. 

One  of  your  number  will  write  on  the  blackboard 
the  outline  he  has  made  of  some  one  else's  com- 
position. Then  the  writer  of  the  composition  will 
write  his  own  outline  on  the  blackboard.  Com- 
pare the  two.  You  will  not  find  them  worded 
the  same  way,  but  if  both  pupils  have  done  their 
work  well  the  two  outlines  will  be  the  same  in 
substance. 

Treat  several  other  pairs  of  outlines  the  same  way. 


252  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

HOW  TO   GET  A  HISTORY  LESSON 

228.  If  a  man  wanted  to  get  the  very  best  possible 
knowledge  of  the  nature  of  some  stretch  of  country, 
what  would  be  the  best  way  for  him  to  go  about  it  ? 
First  he  would  probably  try  to  get  a  view  of  the  land 
from  some  high  point,  like  a  hill,  a  tower,  or  a  church 
steeple.  Then  he  would  go  over  the  whole  ground 
on  foot  or  in  a  carriage.  When  on  the  high  point  he 
would  get  the  whole  view  in  one  glance ;  when  walking 
or  riding  he  would  get  all  the  details. 

Getting  a  history  lesson  should  be  very  much  the 
same  process.  First  get  a  view  of  the  whole  lesson; 
next,  learn  it  in  detail.  To  do  the  first,  look  at  the 
chapter  heading  and  ask  yourselves  what  you  expect 
to  find  under  it.  Then  look  at  the  paragraph 
headings  and  ask  yourselves  what  you  expect  to 
find  under  them.  After  you  have  made  this  pre- 
liminary inspection  of  the  lesson,  take  up  each 
topic  in  order  and  try  to  fasten  it  in  mind  as  a  part 
of  the  whole. 

Trying  to  anticipate  what  you  will  find  under  any 
particular  chapter  heading  or  paragraph  heading 
is  a  very  important  matter.  Can  you  not  learn  to 
ask  yourselves  different  kinds  of  questions  that  will 
fit  different  lessons?  It  is  impossible  for  any  one  to 
give  you  questions  that  will  fit  your  different  lessons, 
but  questions  like  the  following  will  perhaps  help  you 
to  solve  each  lesson-problem  for  yourselves. 

a.  What  previous  lessons  is  this  lesson  a  continuation  of? 

b.  What  great  men  or  women  are  spoken  of  in  the 

lesson,  and  what  did  they  do? 


THE    CARE   OF   SCHOOL   PROPERTY  253 

c.  Why  did  they  do  what  they  did  ?     Was  it  for  selfish 

or  unselfish  reasons? 

d.  What  were  the  results  of  what  they  did?    Were  they 

good  or  bad? 

e.  What  is  the  chief  topic  of  the  lesson  ?     What  are  the 

minor  topics?     What  do  you  know  of  the  minor 
topics  ? 

These  very  questions,  you  must  remember,  will 
not  fit  all  your  lessons  in  history;  but  they  will 
help  you  make  your  own  questions. 

Take  to-morrow's  history  lesson  and  make  an 
English  exercise  of  it.  Look  first  at  the  main  heading 
and  help  one  another  to  anticipate  what  will  be 
found  under  it.  Then  treat  the  minor  headings  in 
the  same  way.  After  you  have  done  this,  ask  one 
of  your  number  to  read  the  lesson  aloud  to  you,  or 
read  it  silently,  and  ask  yourselves  whether  or  not 
you  find  what  you  expected  to  find. 

Do  this  for  many  days  if  you  have  time.  It  will 
help  you  to  study  history  lessons  and  all  other 
lessons.  If  you  fix  the  habit  of  trying  to  forecast 
what  is  in  anything  you  read,  reading  and  remember- 
ing will  be  much  easier  for  you.  You  will  find  this 
kind  of  training  very  valuable  if  you  go  to  high 
school,  for  many  high-school  teachers  say  that 
elementary-school  graduates  can't  take  a  book  and 
get  a  lesson  from  it.     Try  to  show  them  that  you  can. 

THE   CARE   OF   SCHOOL  PROPERTY 
229.  Sometimes  you  have  occasion  to  give  your 
reasons  for  doing  this  or  that,  or  for  believing  this 
or  that,  and  probably  you  do  not  find  it  easy  to  do. 


2S4  A    COMPOSITION- GRAMMAR 

If,  however,  you  can  arrange  your  thoughts  in  good 
order,  you  find  it  easier. 

Let  us  take  for  an  example  the  subject  of  the  care 
of  school  property,  a  subject  you  all  know  something 
about.  In  Maryland,  and  perhaps  in  some  other 
states,  the  school  children  have  a  society  whose  main 
object  is  to  see  that  the  school  buildings  and  grounds 
are  well  cared  for,  and  each  pupil  wears  a  badge  to 
signify  that  he  is  willing  to  do  his  part.  The  subject 
is,  then,  one  of  interest.  Talk  over  the  following 
points  in  class: 

a.  Damage  is  often  done  to  school  buildings  by  writing 

on  the  walls,  cutting  the  desks,  and  in  similar 
ways.     Tell  all  you  know  of  the  matter. 

b.  Who  does  it?     You  need  not  mention  names,  but 

you  can  say  whether  or  not  the  damage  was  done 
by  school  children  or  by  other  persons.  Why  was 
it  done?  Would  the  same  persons  do  such 
destructive  work  in  their  own  homes? 

c.  Why  are  some  people  fond  of  destroying   public 

property?  Is  it  because  they  feel  no  responsi- 
bility?    What  is  it  to  feel  responsibility? 

d.  Is  it  because  they  feel  no  danger  of  punishment? 

e.  Why  should  people,  young  and  old,  not  destroy  school 

and  other  public  property?  Has  the  matter  of 
taxes  anything  to  do  with  the  matter?  Who  pays 
the  taxes  ?  How  are  they  collected  ?  Do  you  know 
what  the  tax  rate  is  in  your  town  or  county?  If 
school  seats  are  badly  damaged,  how  are  new  ones 
procured  ?  If  the  walls  of  a  schoolroom  are  defaced, 
whose  money  must  be  spent  in  refinishing  them  ? 
/.  Ought  every  person,  young  and  old,  to  have  pride 
in  the  public  buildings  of  his  town  or  county? 


SOME  SUBJECTS   TO  ANALYZE  255 

If  they  arc  good,  ought  he  not  to  try  to  keep  them 
good?  If  poor,  ought  he  to  make  them  worse? 
Do  you  know  of  any  pubhc  buildings  of  which 
you  are  proud? 

g.  Ought  not  every  person  to  have  respect  for  the 
rights  and  the  property  of  others?  If  so,  should 
we  not  respect  public  property,  which  is  the  prop- 
erty of  us  all?  If  a  man  should  burn  down  a 
school  building  or  a  court  house,  would  he  not  be 
sent  to  prison?  And  if  a  boy  or  a  girl  damages 
school  property,  is  he  or  she  not  committing  a  fault 
of  the  same  kind? 

h.  How  can  damage  to  school  property  be  prevented? 
Would  punishment  of  the  offenders  be  effective? 
What  kind  of  punishment  would  you  advise? 

i.  Can  public  opinion  be  a  punishment?  If  most  of 
you  thought  it  a  serious  fault  to  damage  school 
property,  would  the  few  of  you  who  didn't  think 
so  do  it  ?  If  nine  boys  and  girls  out  of  ten  believed 
in  J  air  play,  would  the  tenth  boy  or  girl  play 
unfairly?  Is  there  any  force  in  this  sort  of  public 
opinion  ? 

Writing 

230.  These  ideas  are  not  written  out  in  the  form 
of  an  outline,  but  you  will  probably  be  able  to  write 
from  them  any  way.  Look  over  the  points  again, 
recalling  what  was  said,  then  close  the  book  and  write, 
each  using  the  thoughts  that  impressed  him  most. 
Be  careful  about  your  paragraphing. 

SOME  SUBJECTS  TO  ANALYZE 

231.  To  analyze  a  subject  is  to  divide  it  into  its 
parts,  just  as  you  have  divided  several  subjects  into 

18 


2  56  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

their  parts  by  making  outlines  and  by  discussing 
parts  of  subjects  less  formally  stated,  as  in  the  case 
of  ''The  Care  of  School  Property."  Below  are 
given  some  subjects  for  you  to  analyze;  no  hints 
whatever  are  given.  In  order  to  analyze  the  subjects 
one  of  your  number  will  go  to  the  blackboard 
and  be  prepared  to  write  what  you  tell  him.  One 
of  you  will  think  of  some  part  of  the  subject,  in 
the  form  of  a  title,  perhaps,  such  as  appeared  in 
the  outlines  you  have  studied,  or  in  the  form  of  a 
mere  hint,  like  those  given  in  the  discussion  of  the 
care  of  school  property.  When  this  is  given  to  the 
pupil  at  the  blackboard,  he  will  write  it.  Then 
another  will  be  given  him,  then  another,  and  an- 
other; so  that  after  a  while  you  will  have  enough 
for  the  substance  of  a  theme.  Then  it  may  occur 
to  you  that  the  points  will  have  to  be  arranged  in  a 
better  order,  for  it  is  plain  that  the  strongest  point 
should  come  last,  where  it  will  be  most  effective, 
the  least  important  first,  and  the  others  arranged 
between,  in  the  order  of  their  importance.  When 
you  have  done  this,  you  will  have  analyzed  a  subject. 
Here  are  the  subjects.  Choose  one  and  work  it 
out  together. 

Fair  Play  on  the  Playground 

Doing  as  You  Would  Be  Done  By 

Protecting  Smaller  Children 

Being  Cross  at  Home 

The  Person  Who  Wants  Everything  His  Own  Way 

Mistreating  Animals 

The  Person  Who  Is  Always  Right 


DEBATES  257 

The  Person  Who  Shirks  His  Share  of  the  Work 
The  Mischief  Maker  in  School 

Do  they  look  rather  difficult?  There  is  an  easy 
way  to  begin  to  think  out  any  subject.  It  is  to 
think  of  some  illustration,  some  story,  that  the 
subject  makes  you  think  of.  For  example,  can  you 
think  of  some  person  who  has  not  played  fairly  on 
the  playground,  and  what  he  has  done  that  was 
unfair?  And  can  you  tell  whether  this  was  right  or 
wrong,  and  why?  And  it  is  plain  that  if  many  of 
you  can  think  of  such  examples,  and  can  tell  why 
the  actions  were  right  or  wrong,  you  will  soon  find 
yourselves  making  an  outline. 

DEBATES 
232.  In  several  places  in  this  book  you  have  made 
outlines  of  subjects  or  studied  outlines  that  were 
made  for  you.  In  the  latter  cases  you  have  filled  out 
the  outlines.  By  this  time,  then,  you  should  be  able 
to  make  a  fairly  good  outline  of  an  easy  subject  and 
speak  or  write  from  it. 

In  order  to  follow  up  this  kind  of  work,  you  will 
have  some  debates.  To  begin  on,  look  over  this 
list  of  subjects  and  select  one  to  use  first. 

Resolved  that  we  have  more   school   hours  and  no 

studying  at  home. 
Resolved  that  we  have  school  all  the  year  round,  and 
that  each  pupil  take  his  vacation  when  it  is  most 
convenient. 
Resolved  that  women  vote  at  all  elections  and  for  all 

public  officers. 
Resolved  that  football  be  abolished. 


258  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Resolved  that  every  school  have  a  garden. 

Resolved  that  we  have  more  handwork  in  school. 

Resolved  that  once  each  week  we  have  a  public-speaking 
exercise  in  which  many  pupils  shall  speak,  and  that 
every  time  a  speaker  makes  a  mistake  in  his  English  he 
be  interrupted  and  be  compelled  to  correct  the  error. 

When  you  have  selected  a  subject,  analyze  it  in 
two  ways — for  and  against.  Those  of  you  who  are 
in  favor  of  the  subject  as  stated  are  said  to  be  on 
the  affirmative;  those  who  are  not  in  favor  of  it  as 
stated  are  on  the  negative.  Two  pupils  will  go  to 
the  blackboard,  and  each  will  record  the  reasons  on 
his  side  as  they  are  given  him.  When  you  have 
all  the  material  you  can  get,  each  pupil  in  the  room 
will  arrange  it  into  as  good  an  outline  as  he  can 
make,  and  write  it  out  in  good  form.  Then  appoint 
two  committees,  one  for  the  affirmative  and  one  for 
the  negative;  each  committee  will  take  the  outlines 
prepared  on  its  own  side  of  the  subject,  decide  which 
two,  or  three,  or  four  are  the  best,  and  appoint  the 
makers  of  these  outlines  to  speak  before  the  room 
on  some  day  you  determine  upon.  Before  that  day 
comes,  select  three  judges  from  among  you.  On 
the  appointed  day,  the  speakers  will  address  the 
class,  first  some  one  for  the  affirmative,  then  one 
for  the  negative,  and  so  on  until  all  have  spoken. 
The  judges  will  then  go  out  of  the  room  and 
determine  among  themselves  who  spoke  the  better. 
When  they  have  made  up  their  minds,  they  will 
return  to  the  room  and  one  of  their  number  will 
announce  their  decision. 


Part  III 
THE   PARTS   OF   SPEECH 

FUNCTION 

233.  In  the  preceding  pages  you  have  studied  the 
main  parts  of  the  sentence — predicate,  subject,  and 
so  on.  Now  you  are  to  study  single  words,  and 
groups  of  words  that  are  used  as  single  words  are 
used.  For  example,  you  know  that  a  single  word 
may  be  a  subject,  and  you  know  that  a  whole 'clause 
may  also  be  used  as  a  subject;  the  clause,  in  such  a 
case,  is  used  as  a  single  word  is  used.  You  know, 
too,  that  a  single  word  may  be  an  object,  and  you 
know  that  a  whole  clause  may  be  an  object;  the 
clause,  in  such  a  case,  is  used  as  a  single  word  is 
used. 

The  itse  of  words  in  grammar  is  usually  called 
function;  and  it  is  the  use,  or  function,  of  words 
that  determines  what  they  shall  be  called.  For 
example,  certain  words  have  the  function  of  connect- 
ing other  words  or  groups  of  words;  and  these,  as 
you  have  already  learned,  are  called  connectives. 
In  the  same  way,  other  words  have  other  functions, 
and  are  given  names  that  are  intended  to  describe 
these  functions.  All  these  names  together  are. 
called  the  parts  of  speech. 

The  parts  of  speech,  in  the  order  in  which  they 
are  discussed  in  this  book,  are  the  conjunction,  the 

259 


26o  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

preposition,   the    verb,    the    noun,    the    pronoun,    the 
adjective,  the  adverb,  and  the  interjection. 

THE   CONJUNCTION 

234.  The  conjunction  is  treated  first  because 
other  parts  of  speech  may  be  joined  by  it.  If  you 
are  able  to  recognize  coordinating  conjunctions,  for 
example,  and  to  tell  immediately  what  they  join, 
you  are  thereby  saying  what  parts  of  the  sentence 
have  the  same  function  and  therefore  the  same 
name.  To  illustrate,  when  you  know  that  and  is  a 
conjunction  and  that  it  joins  two  words  or  groups  of 
words  of  the  same  rank,  you  thereby  understand  that 
these  two  words  or  groups  of  words  have  the  same 
function  and  are  the  same  part  of  speech.  This 
will  help  to  make  the  analysis  of  the  sentence  easy. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  conjunctions — coordinating 
and  subordinating. 

Coordinating  Conjunctions 

235.  Conjunction  is  from  two  Latin  words  that 
mean  joining  together.  Coordinating  is  also  from 
the  Latin,  and  it  implies  that  the  two  words  joined 
are  of  the  same  rank,  that  is,  that  they  have  the 
same  function.  For  example,  and  is  a  coordinating 
conjunction,  and  it  may  join  two  subjects,  or  two 
verbs,  or  two  objects,  or  two  phrases,  or  two 
clauses.  Other  coordinating  conjunctions  are  but,  or, 
nor,  either,  neither,  however,  yet,  hence,  therefore.  You 
will  find  that  sometimes  two  of  these  conjunctions  are 
used  together,  like  either  and  or,  and  neither  and  nor. 

In  the  following  sentences  tell  what  words  are 


THE   CONJUNCTION  261 

coordinating  conjunctions,  and  what  words  or  groups 
of  words  they  join.  If  possible,  explain  the  punc- 
tuation as  you  go  along. 

1.  " The  lion  and  the  lamb  shall  lie  down  together." 

2.  The  moon  and  the  sun  are  the  cause  of  the  tides. 

3.  The  tides  are  caused  by  the  moon  and  the  sun. 

4.  The  traveler  took  up  his  pack  and  went  out  into  the 
night. 

5.  The  captain  sent  some  of  the  sailors  to  get  up  the 
anchor,  and  others  to  set  sail. 

6.  That  darkness  was  coming  on  and  that  rain  would 
fall  was  clear  to  all. 

7.  They  knew  that  darkness  was  coming  on  and  that 
rain  would  fall. 

8.  Did  the  fox  say  the  grapes  were  sour  because  they 
really  were  so,  or  because  he  could  n't  get  them? 

9.  The  hare  was  the  faster  runner,  but  the  tortoise  won 
the  race. 

10.  Not  the  hare,  but  the  tortoise,  won  the  race. 

1 1 .  Neither  threats  nor  entreaties  moved  him. 

12.  He  was  moved  neither  by  threats  nor  by  entreaties. 

13.  Both  sun  and  rain  influence  the  growth  of  plants. 

14.  I  like  to  read ;  hence  my  father  gets  me  many  books. 

15.  I  like  to  read;  therefore  my  father  gets  me  many 
books. 

16.  It  will  either  rain  or  snow. 

Subordinating  Conjunctions 

236.  Subordinating  conjunctions  join  subordinate 
clauses  to  the  words  they  modify.  Thus,  in  When 
the  wagon  comes,  well  all  take  a  ride,  "when"  is  a 
subordinating  conjunction  joining  its  clause  to 
"take."      Sometimes    the    subordinate    clause    is 


2  62  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

contracted,  as  in  If  necessary,  I  will  go  after  the 
wagon.  Here  "If  necessary"  is  equivalent  to  //  it 
is  necessary,  and  "if  "  is  a  subordinating  conjunction. 
Such  words  as  when,  if,  although,  until,  till,  because, 
and  unless  are  subordinating  conjunctions. 

In  the  following  sentences  tell  what  conjunctions 
are  coordinating  and  what  are  subordinating.  Tell 
also  what  each  one  joins.  Determine  whether 
commas  are  used  where  pauses  are  made  in  the. 
reading. 

1.  I  will  go  for  the  wagon  if  you  desire. 

2.  After  the  rain  was  over,  the  flowers  looked  brighter. 

3.  Although  I  tended  my  garden  well  that  summer,  my 
plants  did  not  grow  well. 

4.  I  was  busy  with  my  bees  till  the  supper  bell  rang. 

5.  There  will  be  little  honey  unless  the  flowers  are 
plentiful  and  unless  the  weather  is  fair. 

6.  Bees  gather  honey  in  the  summer,  because  there  are 
no  flowers  in  the  winter. 

7.  Since  the  rain  freshened  everything,  the  birds  began 
to  sing  again. 

8.  The  men  did  not  come  home  from  the  fields  until  the 
moon  rose. 

9.  When  the  wheat  is  harvested  and  threshed,  we'll 
take  a  day  off  and  go  fishing. 

10.  When  harvested  and  threshed,  the  wheat  will  be 
taken  to  town  and  sold. 

11.  While  going  along  the  bank  of  the  creek,  I  saw  a 
bass  or  a  perch  leap. 

12.  We  have  not  been  fishing  since  we  caught  the  mud 
turtle. 

13.  As  I  was  coming  home  from  school,  a  rabbit  ran 
across  my  path,     , 


THE   PREPOSITION  263 

THE  PREPOSITION 

237.  The  preposition  is  the  other  kind  of  con- 
nective word,  and  naturally  follows  the  conjunction 
in  this  classification.  The  word  preposition  is  also 
a  Latin  derivative,  and  means  placed  before.  It 
therefore  appears  before  a  substantive  that  it  joins 
to  some  other  part  of  the  sentence.  In  The  angry 
hoy  went  to  the  house,  '*to"  is  the  preposition;  it 
appears  before  "house,"  and  joins  this  word  to 
"went."  It  is  different  from  a  coordinating  con- 
junction because  it  cannot  join  two  words  of  the 
same  rank;  it  is  different  from  the  subordinating 
conjunction  because  it  introduces  a  phrase  rather 
than  a  clause.  Some  of  the  prepositions  are  to,  in, 
on,  of,  by,  from,  for,  with,  over,  under,  after,  before. 

Some  words  are  sometimes  prepositions  and 
sometimes  conjunctions.  For  example,  in  After  the 
rain  the  clouds  disappeared,  "after"  is  a  preposition 
because  it  joins  "rain,"  the  substantive  that  follows 
it,  to  another  word,  "disappeared";  that  is,  it 
introduces  a  phrase.  In  After  the  rain  ceased,  the 
clouds  disappeared,  "after"  is  a  subordinating  con- 
junction, because  it  joins  a  clause  to  another  part 
of  the  sentence,  "disappeared." 

A  phrase  that  begins  with  a  preposition  is  called 
a  prepositional  phrase.  Hereafter,  instead  of  say- 
ing "substantive  with  a  connective  word,"  you  are  to 
say  substantive  with  a  preposition. 

In  the  following  sentences  determine  what  words 
are  prepositions  and  what  are  conjunctions,  and  why. 
In  every  case  determine  what  they  join.     In  one  of 


264  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

the  sentences  a  certain  word  is  a  preposition,  while 
in  another  the  same  word  is  a  conjunction.  Be  sure 
to  determine  which  one  it  is  in  each  case.  Note 
also  the  spelling  of  the  preposition  to. 

1.  In  the  afternoon  the  school  went  to  the  woods  to 
hunt  flowers. 

2.  The  dog  lay  before  the  door  in  the  sun,  and  did 
not  waken  till  the  sun  set. 

3.  A  motor  car  passed  by  the  house  at  high  speed. 

4.  When  John  hit  the  ball,  it  went  over  the  fence  and 
into  a  neighbor's  garden. 

5.  Before   Mary  was  permitted  to  play  tennis,    she 
had  to  practice  an  hour  on  the  violin. 

6.  Mary  liked  to  play  tennis;   hence    she    practiced 
with  industry. 

7.  Arithmetic  is  a  useful  study;  yet  I  prefer  geography. 

8.  Manual  training  is  taught  in  our  school;  domestic 
science,  too,  is  taught. 

9.  Girls  like  cooking  at  school;  however,  they  don't 
always  like  it  at  home. 

10.  These  girls  always  go  to  and  from  school  together; 
Mary  either  calls  for  Jane,  or  Jane  calls  for  Mary. 

1 1 .  George  never  goes  to  bed  early ;  therefore  he  never 
wants  to  get  up  with  the  sun. 

238.  Write  some  sentences  on  the  blackboard; 
underline  the  coordinating  conjunctions  once,  the 
subordinating  conjunctions  twice,  and  the  preposi- 
tions three  times.  Afterwards  change  places  and 
determine  whether  one  another's  work  is  correct. 
If  you  think  there  are  errors,  confer  with  the  pupils 
who  did  the  work,  and  argue  the  question  until  you 
agree.     Errors  of  all  sorts  should  be  corrected. 


THE  VERB  265 

THE  VERB 

239.  The  verb  is  the  most  important  word  in  the 
sentence.  Indeed,  a  verb  may  of  itself  be  a  sentence. 
Example:  Run!  Usually,  of  course,  a  verb  is  ac- 
companied by  a  subject. 

Verbs  are  words  that  make  assertions,  or  predica- 
tions; that  is,  they  are  the  important  words  in  the 
predicates  of  sentences.  For  example,  in  Horses 
run,  "run"  is  the  verb. 

Verbs  are  often  more  than  one  word.  You  can 
easily  make  sentences  in  which  the  following  groups 
of  words  are  the  verbs:  have  run,  will  go,  has  been 
seen,  would  have  gone,  would  have  been  hurt.  Verbs 
that  consist  of  more  than  one  word  each  are  called 
verb  phrases. 

Tense 

240.  The  verb  is  the  part  of  speech  that,  by 
different  forms,  can  indicate  differences  in  time. 
Thus,  to  say  I  look  is  to  assert  something  that  is 
now  taking  place;  and  the  verb  is  here  said  to  be 
in  the  present  tense.  To  say  I  looked  is  to  assert 
something  that  took  place  in  the  past;  and  the 
verb  is  said  to  be  in  the  past  tense.  To  say  /  shall 
look,  or  I  will  look,  is  to  assert  something  that  will 
take  place  in  the  future  ^  and  the  verb  is  said  to 
be  in  the  future  tense.  To  say  I  have  looked  is  to 
assert  something  that  has  happened  at  some  in- 
definite time  in  the  past  or  has  just  happened; 
and  the  verb  is  said  to  be  in  the  present  perfect  tense. 
To  say  /  had  looked  is  to  assert  something  that 
took  place  before  some  other  thing  had  happened, 


266  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

as  in  /  had  merely  looked  into  the  pantry  when 
mother  came  in.  Here  the  verb  is  in  the  past 
perfect  tense.  To  say  /  shall  have  looked  is  to 
assert  something  that  will  happen  by  the  time 
some  other  thing  happens,  as  in  By  the  time  mother 
gets  home  I  shall  have  looked  into  the  oven  to  see  how 
the  meat  is  cooking.  Here  the  verb  is  said  to  be  in 
future  perfect  tense. 

Number 

241.  Verbs  have  a  change  of  form  to  indicate 
whether  the  subject  must  stand  for  one  thing  or 
more  than  one  thing.  Thus,  in  The  bird  flies  the 
verb  ''flies"  shows  that  the  subject  must  mean  one 
thing,  while  in  Birds  fly  the  verb  '*fiy"  indicates 
that  the  subject  must  mean  more  than  one  thing. 
In  the  first  case  both  subject  and  verb  are  said  to 
be  in  the  singular  number,  and  in  the  second  case 
both  subject  and  verb  are  said  to  be  in  the  plural 
number.  However,  verbs  do  not  always  change  form 
to  show  change  in  number.  Thus  in  /  run  (singular) 
and  They  run  (plural)  the  form  is  the  same. 

Person 

242.  Verbs  have  also  a  change  of  form  to  indicate 
whether  the  subject  represents  a  person  speaking, 
a  person  or  thing  spoken  to,  or  a  person  or  thing 
spoken  of.  Thus  in  I  go,  the  subject  is  represented 
as  speaking;  and  both  subject  and  verb  are  said  to 
be  in  the  first  person.  In  You  go,  or  in  the  old  form 
Thou  goest,  the  subject  is  represented  as  spoken  to; 
and  both   subject  and  verb  are  said  to  be  in  the 


THE   VERB  267 

second  person.  In  He  goes  the  subject  is  repre- 
sented as  spoken  of;  and  both  subject  and  verb  are 
said  to  be  in  the  third  person.  In  the  plural  the 
verbs  do  not  change  in  form,  but  the  subjects  do. 
Thus,  first  person.  We  go;  second  person.  You  go; 
third  person.  They  go. 

Illustration  of  a  Present  Tense 

243.  The  following  tabulation  shows  the  present 
tense  of  a  verb,  its  different  persons,  and  its  two 
numbers. 

Present  Tense 

singular  number  plural  number 

1st  person     I  have  a  book.  We  have  a  book. 

2d  person    You  have  (or  thou  hast)  You  have  a  book. 

a  book. 

3d  person    He  has  a  book.  They  have  a  book. 

The  Future  Tense 

244.  When  you  have  made  up  your  mind  to  do 
a  thing,  you  say  /  wilL  When  you  have  made  up 
your  mind  that  some  one  else  shall  do  a  thing,  you 
say  You  shall  or  He  shall.  So  also  in  the  plural 
you  say  We  will  and  You  shall  and  They  shall  to 
express  your  determination.  But  if  you  wish  merely 
to  express  what  will  occur  in  the  natural  course  of 
events,  you  say  I  shall  and  You  will  and  He  will. 
So  also  in  the  plural  you  say  We  shall  and  You  will 
and  They  will  to  express  future  action. 

The  following  sentences  have  long  been  used  to 
illustrate  the  differences  in  question :  /  will  drown; 
nobody  shall  help  me.  I  shall  drown;  nobody  will 
help  me.     Explain  just  what  they  mean. 


268  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

Unreasonable  Change  of  Tense 

245.  Careless  writers  and  speakers  sometimes 
change  the  tense  of  their  verbs  when  it  is  very  bad 
taste  to  do  so.  For  example:  As  I  went  along 
through  the  woods,  I  heard  the  chatter  of  a  squirrel. 
I  get  ready  to  shoot,  and  just  then  a  rabbit  jumped  up 
just  ahead  of  me,  and  I  fire  at  it  instead.  There  is  no 
reason  for  changing  from  the  past  to  the  present 
tense,  and  from  present  to  past;  the  whole  effect  is 
very  absurd.  If  you  begin  a  narrative  in  the  past 
tense,  continue  in  that  tense.  Change  tense  only 
when  you  wish  to  express  a  change  of  time. 

Voice 

246.  Some  verbs  change  in  form  to  indicate 
whether  the  subject  is  represented  as  making  or 
receiving  the  action  expressed  in  the  verb.  Thus, 
in  /  see  the  sky  the  subject  is  acting,  and  the  verb  is 
said  to  be  in  the  active  voice.  In  The  sky  is  seen 
the  subject  receives  the  action,  and  the  verb  is  said 
to  be  in  the  passive  voice. 

247.  Can  you  write  out  a  tabulation  of  voice, 
tense,  person,  and  number  of  some  verb?  If  you 
try  it,  you  will  have  to  be  careful  in  choosing  your 
verb,  for  not  all  verbs  can  have  a  passive  voice. 
For  example,  go,  look,  and  limp  cannot  have  the 
passive  voice,  for  it  would  be  absurd  to  say  /  am 
goed,  or  You  were  looked,  or  He  has  been  limped. 
On  the  other  hand,  see,  write,  believe,  and  hurt  may 
be  written  out  in  the  passive  form. 


THE    VERB  269 

Transitive  and  Intransitive  Verbs 

248.  You  have  already  learned  that  only  those 
verbs  that  can  have  objects  can  have  a  passive 
form.  For  example,  you  may  say  I  see  a  man,  in 
which  the  verb  "see"  has  the  object  "man."  Now 
you  can  turn  the  sentence  around  and  say  The  man 
is  seen,  in  which  the  verb  "is  seen"  is  passive. 
Verbs  that  have  objects  are  called  transitive  verbs; 
those  that  do  not  have  objects  are  called  intransitive 
verbs.  Some  verbs  are  transitive  in  some  senses 
and  intransitive  in  others.  For  example,  in  The 
man  runs  the  verb  "run"  has  no  object  and  is 
intransitive;  but  in  The  man  runs  the  engine  the 
verb  "runs"  has  an  object  and  is  transitiye. 

Linking  Verbs 

249.  Some  verbs  link  predicate  words  to  the 
subject.  For  example,  in  I  am  ill,  I  was  afraid, 
I  have  been  a  pupil  in  that  school,  and  I  am  he,  the 
verbs  link  "ill,"  "afraid,"  "pupil,"  and  "he"  to 
the  subjects.  Hence  the  verbs  are  called  linking 
verbs,  and  are,  of  course,  intransitive.  Other 
examples:  This  is  he.  This  is  she.  The  cream 
tastes  sour.  They  appeared  well.  She  seems  cross. 
The  rose  smells  sweet.  I  feel  had.  You  have  already 
had  something  about  this  matter  in  section  139. 

A  Study  of  Verbs 

250.  In  the  following  sentences  determine  the 
tense,  person,  and  number  of  the  verbs.  Determine 
whether  they  are  transitive  or  intransitive;  and,  if 


270  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

transitive,  if  they  are  in  the  active  or  the  passive 
voice.     Distinguish  between  the  use  of  shall  and  will. 

1.  We  heard  the  train  coming  around  the  curve. 

2.  The  train  was  heard  coming  around  the  curve. 
3.1  have  never  seen  the  wreck  of  a  train. 

4.  The  wreck  of  a  train  has  never  been  seen  by  any  of  us. 

5.  You  will  soon  learn  what  fast  traveling  is. 

6.  The  old-fashioned  bicycle  with  a  high  front  wheel  is 
never  seen  now. 

7.  Their  car  will  be  here  before  we  are  ready. 

8.  She  had  already  got  dinner  ready  when  her  mother 
came  home. 

9.  She  will  have  got  dinner  ready  by  the  time   her 
mother  gets  home. 

10.  We  could  not  go  out  in  the  car  until  dinner  had  been 
eaten. 

11.  We  shall  not  reach  the  station  before  train  time. 

12.  We  will  reach  the  station  in  time  even  if  we  have 
to  run. 

13.  He  shall  do  just  what  I  command  him  to  do. 

14.  The  car  ran  as  it  had  never  run  before. 

15.  We  cannot  get  to  the  station  unless  we  go  faster. 

16.  My  father  drives  too  slowly  at  times. 

17.  And  at  times  he  has  driven  too  rapidly. 

18.  Our  horse  travels  rather  fast  for  an   animal  of 
his  age. 

19.  Our  carriage  has  been  repainted,  but  it  needs  new 
tires. 

20.  Mr.  Pearson's  stable  is  too  near  the  house,  so  it  will 
be  moved  soon. 

21.  There  are  four  horses  in  his  stable,  while  we  have 
but  two. 

22.  His  gray  horse  had  been  shod  before  the  black  one. 


THE  NOUN  271 

23.  You  have  not  yet  seen  my  new  pony. 

24.  We  shall  have  finished  our  dinner  by  the  time  the 
car  is  here. 

25.  I  will  go  whether  you  are  willing  or  not. 

26.  She  will  go  if  you  ask  her;  but  I  will  not. 

27.  You  shall  go  whether  you  want  to  or  not. 

28.  The  apples  we  got  while  on  our  ride  taste  very  sour. 

29.  I  feel  too  bad  to  go  riding  to-day. 

THE  NOUN 

251.  In  the  sentence  This  man  is  ike  soldier  who 
brought  the  guns  to  the  fort,  are  several  words  that  are 
called  nouns.  The  first  one  is  **man,"  which  is  the 
subject  of  the  sentence.  The  next  is  "soldier," 
which  is  a  predicate  noun.  The  next  is  "guns," 
which  is  the  object.  The  last  is  "fort,"  which  is  a 
substantive  with  a  preposition.  Likewise,  in  the 
sentence  Soldiers,  this  is  George  Henderson,  the  man 
who  brought  the  guns  to  the  fort,  are  two  nouns  in  other 
functions.  The  first  is  "soldiers,"  which  is  the 
nominative  of  address;  the  second  is  "man,"  which 
is  in  apposition  with  "George  Henderson."  Any 
one  of  these  words  can  easily  be  the  subject  of  a 
sentence;  that  is,  it  is  a  kind  of  word  that  is  normally 
talked  about.  Words  in  all  these  functions  are 
called  nouns. 

Nouns  are  usually  names  of  things.  However, 
some  words  that  are  not  names  of  things  become 
nouns,  or  substantives,  to  use  the  exact  term,  by 
being  subjects,  objects,  etc.  Thus,  in  the  sentence 
The  teacher  wrote  ''wenf  on  the  blackboard,  "went," 
which  is  usually  a  verb,  here  becomes  a  substantive, 

19 


2  72  A  composition-<;rammar 

because  it  is  an  object.  In  ''Wenf  was  written  on 
the  blackboard,  "went"  becomes  a  substantive, 
because  it  is  a  subject.  It  all  depends  upon  the 
function,  or  use,  of  the  word. 

Again,  such  words  as  I,  me,  you,  it,  and  they  are  not 
names  of  things ;  but  they  may  perform  the  functions 
of  nouns,  and,  as  you  will  learn  later,  are  called 
pronouns. 

Again,  a  whole  clause  may  be  the  subject  of  a 
sentence,  or  the  object;  and  is  therefore  a  sub- 
stantive clause,  as  in  the  sentence  That  he  was  not 
at  school  yesterday  is  well  known,  where  the  clause  is 
the  subject  of  "is." 

Number 

252.  Nouns  are  either  singular  or  plural.  Thus, 
man,  woman,  horse,  army,  are  singular;  that  is,  they 
mean  one  person  or  thing.  Men,  women,  horses, 
armies,  are  plural;  that  is,  they  mean  more  than  one 
person  or  thing. 

Case 

253.  In  some  languages  many  nouns  have  one 
form  for  the  subject  use,  another  for  the  object  use, 
and  so  on.  When  a  noun  is  a  subject,  for  example, 
it  is  said  to  be  in  the  nominative  case;  when  it  is  a 
modifier  of  another  noun,  it  is  said  to  be  in  the 
genitive  case;  when  it  is  an  indirect  object,  it  is  said 
to  be  in  the  dative  case;  when  it  is  an  object  or  is 
used  after  a  preposition,  it  is  said  to  be  in  the 
accusative  case.  Each  one  of  these  cases  has  a  differ- 
ent ending,  and  the  hearer  or  reader  knows  by  the 


THE  NOUN  273 

sound  or  the  appearance  of  the  word  whether  it  is 
a  subject,  a  modifier,  an  indirect  object,  or  an  object. 
The  English  language,  however,  has  but  two  case 
forms,  the  common  and  the  genitive.  Thus,  boy  is 
common  form,  and  boy's  is  genitive.  Boy  may  be 
subject,  object,  etc.,  while  boy's  (or  boys')  is  the  form 
used  when  the  word  modifies  another  noun,  as  in  the 
boy's  cap.  Little  need  be  said  about  the  case  of 
nouns;  determine  what  the  function  each  of  these 
words  is  as  it  appears  in  a  sentence,  and  be  satisfied 
with  that. 

Common  and  Proper  Nouns 
254.  Such  names  as  George  Henderson,  Dorothy 
Jones,  Amazon  River,  Beacon  Street,  Washington 
School,  and  Trinity  Church  are  called  proper  nouns, 
because  they  are  the  names  of  some  particular  person 
or  thing.  Such  nouns  always  begin  with  capital 
letters.  All  other  nouns  are  called  common  nouns. 
For  example,  man,  woman,  river,  street,  school,  church, 
are  common  nouns.  These  words  begin  with  small 
letters  unless  they  begin  sentences,  unless  they 
are  in  titles,  or  unless  they  are  first  words  in 
lines  in  poetry. 

In  the  following  sentences  determine  what  words 
are  nouns,  that  is,  what  words  are  subjects,  objects, 
and  so  on.  If  a  clause  performs  one  of  these  func- 
tions, call  it  a  substantive  clause.  Determine  also 
what  the  conjunctions  and  prepositions  join. 

1.  My  caller  was  Dorothy  Jones. 

2.  Agnes,  have  you  ever  skated  on  the  lagoons  in  the 
park? 


2  74  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

3.  One  of  the  greatest  attractions  of  New  York  is 
Central  Park. 

4 .  They  k  new  that  I  had  visited  the  museum  in  the  park. 

5.  Skating  is  the  best  of  winter  sports. 

6.  The  truth  is  that  skating  is  hard  work  for  amateurs. 

7.  Street  cars  and  motor  buses,  our  most  numerous 
conveyances,  run  by  our  door. 

8.  The  poHceman  saw  a  motor  car  that  was  exceeding 
the  speed  Hmit. 

9.  Trinity  Church,  a  very  large  building,  is  in  the 
older  part  of  the  city. 

10.  A  great  crowd  of  children  was  coming  out  of  the 
Washington  School. 

11.  A  great  crowd  of  children  was  coming  out  of  a 
public  school. 

12.  The  conductor  gave  the  bell  rope  a  vigorous  jerk. 

13.  Conductor,  you  didn't  give  me  a  transfer. 

14.  This  is  the  conductor  who  forgot  to  give  me  a 
transfer. 

15.  Policemen  and  firemen  are  servants  of  the  public. 

16.  When  a  fire  engine  comes  down  the  street,  every- 
body gets  out  of  the  way. 

17.  That  a  fire  engine  was  coming  down  the  street 
was  apparent,  for  everybody  was  getting  out  of  the 
way. 

THE   PRONOUN 

255.  Pronouns  are  words  that  designate  persons 
or  things  without  naming  them,  and  that  have  the 
functions  of  nouns.  He,  she,  it,  they,  we,  all,  many, 
few,  others,  are  pronouns.  Some  of  these  words, 
however,  are  not  always  pronouns.  For  example, 
in  All  is  lost,   ''All"  is  a   pronoun,  because  it  is 


TUE  PRONOUN  275 

a  subject  and  therefore  a  kind  of  noun.  But  in 
All  men  are  mortal,  ''All"  is  not  the  subject;  instead, 
it  modifies  *'men,"  which  is  the  subject  and  a  noun. 
In  this  case  "All"  is  an  adjective,  as  you  will  learn 
later.  Again,  in  There  are  no  apples  on  the  ground, 
but  I  saw  a  few  on  the  trees,  "few"  is  an  object  and 
therefore  a  pronoun,  that  is,  a  kind  of  noun.  But 
in  /  saw  a  few  apples  on  the  ground,  "few"  is  not  an 
object,  but  rather  modifies  an  object,  and  is  therefore 
an  adjective.  As  in  the  case  of  nouns,  everything 
depends  upon  the  function,  the  use,  of  the  word. 

Person 

256.  Some  pronouns  have  person,  and  are  there- 
fore called  personal  pronouns.  They  are  so  called 
because  they  have  different  forms  to  indicate  first 
person  or  the  person  speaking,  second  person  or 
the  person  or  thing  spoken  to,  and  third  person  or 
the  person  or  thing  spoken  of.  Thus,  I  is  first  person, 
because  it  stands  for  the  person  speaking;  you  is 
second  person  because  it  stands  for  the  person 
spoken  to;  and  he,  she,  it,  and  they  are  third 
person  because  they  stand  for  persons  or  things 
spoken  of.  Personal  pronouns  do  not  always 
stand  for  persons ;  it  and  they  frequently  stand  for 
things.  You  will  find  more  about  these  words  in  the 
following  section. 

Case 

257.  Any  one  who  speaks  of  himself  uses  the 
form  I  if  the  word  must  be  a  subject  or  a  predicate 


276  A    COMPOSITION- GRAMMAR 

word,  and  me  if  the  word  must  be  an  object,  an 
indirect  object,  or  a  substantive  with  a  preposi- 
tion. Likewise,  we,  you,  he,  she,  it,  and  they  are 
the  forms  for  subjects  and  for  predicate  words, 
and  they  have  the  forms  us,  you,  him,  her,  it,  and 
them  for  the  other  functions.  Most  of  the  personal 
pronouns,  then,  have  two  case  forms  where  nouns 
have  one.  The  subject  case  form  is  called  nominative; 
and  the  other  is  called  accusative-dative. 

Besides  these  cases  there  is  also  the  genitive,  the 
case  that  usually  expresses  possession  and  is  often 
called  the  possessive.  Such  words  as  my,  your,  and 
their  are  genitives.  These  forms  are  modifiers  of 
nouns,  and  are  therefore  called  possessive  adjectives. 
Examples  are  in  my  house,  your  hook,  their  farm. 
The  forms  mine,  yours,  hers,  ours,  theirs,  may  stand 
alone,  however,  and  are  called  possessive  pronouns. 
Example:  This  is  my  book';  that  is  yours,  in  which 
"yours"  does  not  modify  a  noun  but  performs  the 
function  of  one,  and  is  therefore  a  pronoun.  His 
is  either  a  possessive  pronoun  or  a  possessive 
adjective. 

258.  To  give  the  cases  of  a  pronoun  in  order  is 
to  decline  the  pronoun.  The  following  is  the  declen- 
sion of  the  personal  pronouns: 

DECLENSION   OF   PERSONAL   PRONOUNS 
Singular 


FIRST   PERSON 

SECOND    PERSON       THIRD    PERSON 

Nominative             I 

you                       he     she              it 

Genitive                  my,  mine 

your,  yours          his    her,  hers    its 

Accusative-Dative  me 

you                        him  her              it 

THE 

PRONOUN 
Plural 

2 

Nominative            we 
Genitive                  our,  ours 
Accusative-Dative  us 

you 

your,  yours 

you 

they 

their,  theirs 

them 

277 


You  have  already  learned  how  these  cases  are 
used.  For  example,  you  have  learned  to  say  It 
is  I,  It  is  we,  He  and  I  are  friends,  She  and  I  are 
friends,  They  gave  the  hook  to  him  and  me.  They 
gave  the  hook  to  her  and  me.  They  told  him  and  me 
(or  her  and  me)  the  story.  Review  these  sentences, 
and  tell  why  they  are  correct. 

Relative  Pronouns 

259.  In  the  sentence  That  is  the  man  who  was 
elected  alderman,  **who"  is  called  a  relative  pronoun 
because  it  relates  to  the  noun  *'man."  ''Man"  is 
called  the  antecedent.  An  antecedent  is  something 
that  goes  before.  ''Who"  is  also  the  subject 
of  the  clause  "who  was  elected  alderman,"  and  is 
in  the  nominative  case.  In  the  sentence  That  is  the 
man  whom  we  elected  alderman,  "whom"  is  a  relative 
pronoun,  and  has  "man"  as  an  antecedent.  It  is 
also  the  object  in  its  own  clause,  and  is  in  the 
accusative  case.  In*  That  is  the  man  to  whom  we 
gave  the  office  of  alderman,  "whom"  is  a  substantive 
with  the  preposition  "to,"  and  is  in  the  accusative 
case.     "Man"  is  its  antecedent. 

Whose  is  the  genitive  case  of  who.  It  is  usually  a 
possessive  adjective,  as  in  There  is  the  farmer  whose 
horse  was  stolen  and  Whose  horse  is  that  standing  hy 
the  corner  of  the  stable? 


278  A    COMPOSITION-  GRA  MM  A  R 

DECLENSION   OF  WHO 
Singular  and  Plural 

Nominative  who 

Genitive  whose 

Accusative-Dative      whom 

That  and  which  are  also  relative  pronouns,  as  in 
Here  is  the  house  that  was  sold  yesterday  and  This  is 
the  house  in  which  my  father  lives.  These  words  are 
not  declined. 

Interrogative  Pronouns 

260.  Who,  which,  and  what  are  interrogative 
pronouns.  That  is,  they  help  to  make  a  sentence 
interrogative.  Examples:  Who  is  that?  Whom 
did  you  call  on  yesterday?  This  is  my  pencil,  hut 
whose  is  that?  Which  of  these  books  is  yours?  In 
which  of  these  houses  do  you  live?  What  did  you 
say?     Only  who  is  declined. 

Demonstrative  Pronouns 

261.  Pronouns  that  point  out  some  particular 
thing  are  called  demonstrative  pronouns.  This  and 
that,  with  their  plurals  these  and  those,  are  of  this 
class.  They  are  not  declined.  These  words  are 
pronouns,  of  course,  when  they  stand  alone,  as  in 
This  is  Monday  and  That  is  my  geography.  When 
they  stand  before  nouns  they  are  adjectives. 

Indefinite  Pronouns 

262.  In  Whoever  has  my  hook  had  hetter  return 
it,  "whoever"  is  an  indefinite  pronoun,  because  it 
means  no  particular  person.  Other  such  pronouns 
are  any  one^  some  one,  anyhody,  somehody. 


THE  PRONOUN  279 

Correct  Use  of  Pronouns 

263.  In  addition  to  taking  care  in  the  use  of  /  as 
a  nominative,  you  must  take  care  in  the  use  of  who 
and  whom.  Who  is  a  nominative,  and  must  be  used 
as  a  subject  and  a  predicate  word,  while  whom  is 
dative  or  accusative  and  must  be  used  as  indirect 
object,  object,  and  substantive  with  a  preposition. 
Examples:  This  is  the  boy  who  came  late.  This  is 
the  boy  whom  we  saw  come  in  late. 

You  have  already  learned  that  such  a  sentence 
as  //  any  one  has  my  book,  they  had  better  return  it  is 
incorrect.  Many  educated  people  use  this  manner 
of  expression,  even  though  they  recognize  it  as 
incorrect.  It  is  hard  to  break  a  habit  that  is  once 
fixed.  You  should  say,  1/  any  one  (or  anybody) 
has  my  book,  he  had'  better  return  it. 

A  Study  of  Pronouns 

264.  Study  the  following  sentences  to  determine 
what  words  are  pronouns,  and  what  kind.  Be  sure 
to  remember  that  they  are  not  pronouns  if  they 
modify  nouns^they  must  of  themselves  be  subjects, 
objects,  and  so  on.  For  example,  when  one  of  the 
genitives  modifies  a  noun  it  must  be  called  a  posses- 
sive adjective. 

Whenever  you  find  a  pronoun  that  is  declined,  tell 
the  case.  Always  tell  what  the  function  of  the 
word  is.  Determine  the  functions  of  the  conjunc- 
tions and  prepositions. 

1.  We  are  very  fond  of  reading  at  our  house. 

2.  Whoever  gets  a  new  book  reads  it  to  the  others. 


28o  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

3 .  Those  who  are  fond  of  reading  can  spend  their  leisure 
with  enjoyment. 

4.  These  are  my  books;  whose  are  those? 

5 .  Who  are  those  people  who  are  going  into  the  library  ? 

6.  Which  of  your  new  books  are  you  going  to  read 
first? 

7.  I  will  read  whatever  you  bring  me. 

8.  The  person  whom  you  see  at  the  desk  is  the  librarian. 

9.  The  attendant  to  whom  I  gave  my  card  brought  me 
the  wrong  book. 

10.  Whom  are  you  going  to  ask  to  go  to  the  library  with 
you? 

11.  Somebody  will  bring  the  books  for  our  class  to  use. 

1 2 .  These  are  the  books  that  I  brought  for  our  class  to 
use. 

13.  What  are  you  going  to  do  after  you  get  your  lessons 
this  evening? 

14.  I  have  read  Treasure  Island,  and  I  like  it. 

15.  We  have  Tom  Sawyer  in  our  library,  and  it  interests 
us  very  much. 

1 6 .  Few  boys  and  girls  nowadays  read  Pilgrinis  Progress , 
but  many  have  read  Gulliver's  Travels. 

17.  My  sister  and  I  are  not  fond  of  reading;  we  prefer 
to  play. 

18.  She  and  I  like  tennis  very  well. 

19.  Books  are  good  companions;  they  entertain  us,  and 
we  are  grateful  to  them  for  that. 

20.  Which  of  you  has  a  copy  of  Little  Men?     It  is  my 
favorite  book. 

2 1 .  You  borrowed  my  copy  of  Little  Women .     When  will 
you  return  it? 

22.  It  is  a  good  book  for  you  and  me  to  read. 

23.  I  want  to  reread  it.     That  is  the  reason  why  I  want 
you  to  return  it. 


THE  ADJECTIVE  281 

24.  The  Country  of  the  Dwarfs  and  My  Apingi  Kingdom 
are  good  books.     Have  you  read  them? 

25.  Some  books  can  be  read  many  times;  others  only 
once. 

26.  All  the  modern  books  are  in  our  public  library;  I 
have  only  a  few  of  them. 

27.  Father  and  mother  gave  me  a  set  of  history  books 
for  a  Christmas  gift. 

28.  I  gave  him  and  her  a  set  of  Dickens. 

29.  To  my  sister  they  gave  some  stories,  which  please 
her  better  than  history. 

30.  The  same  books  do  not  always  please  her  and  me. 

31.  A  few  books  are  worth  buying;  many  are  not  worth 
the  price  one  pays  for  them. 

32.  Any  one  who  pays  his  own  money  for  a  book  wants 
to  read  it  at  once. 

33.  The  girl  to  whom  I  lent  my  copy  of  Kidnapped  has 
not  returned  it. 

34.  Some  one  has  borrowed  my  Ivanhoe.      I  wish  he 
would  return  it. 

35.  If  any  one  borrows  my  books,  I  want  him  to  return 
them. 

36.  There  is  a  boy  who  reads  a  great  deal,  but  remicm- 
bers  little. 

37.  Whenever  one  reads  a  book,  one  should  compare  it 
with  others. 

38.  I  am  willing  to  lend  my  books  to  whoever  will  take 
good  care  of  them. 

39.  I   will    lend    my  books    to    any    one  whom  you 
recommend. 

THE  ADJECTIVE 

265.  A  word  that  modifies  a  noun  is  called  an 
adjective.     A   phrase   or   a   clause   that   modifies  a 


2  82  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

noun  is  called  an  adjective  phrase  or  an  adjective 
clause.  In  the  sentence,  The  top  of  the  hill  that  the 
old  house  stands  on  has  not  a  tree  on  it,  "the"  modi- 
fies "top,"  "old"  modifies  "house,"  and  "a"  modi- 
fies "tree."  These  words  are  adjectives.  Also,  the 
phrase  "of  the  hill"  modifies  "top,"  and  is  there- 
fore an  adjective  phrase;  and  the  clause  "that 
the  old  house  stands  on"  modifies  "hill,"  and  is 
therefore  an  adjective  clause. 

Common  and  Proper  Adjectives 

266.  Some  adjectives  are  formed  from  proper 
nouns,  and  are  therefore  called  proper  adjectives. 
Thus,  from  the  proper  noun  America  is  formed  the 
proper  adjective  American.  Other  proper  adjec- 
tives are  English,  French,  Peruvian,  Bostonian, 
Shakespearean.  All  such  words  begin  with  capital 
letters.  Other  adjectives  are  common  *>.djectives, 
and  begin  with  small  letters  unless  they  are  in  titles 
or  are  the  first  words  in  lines  of  poetry. 

Articles 

267.  The  words  a,  an,  and  the  form  one  class  of 
adjectives,  called  articles,  and  they  themselves  are 
divided  into  two  classes.  A  and  an  are  called 
indefinite  articles.  The  only  difference  between 
them  is  that  a  is  used  before  a  word  beginning  with 
a  consonant,  as  in  a  tree,  and  an  before  a  word  that 
begins  with  a  vowel  sound,  as  in  an  eagle  and  an 
honorable  man.  The,  on  the  other  hand,  is  called 
the  definite  article. 

The  indefinite  article  is  so  called  because  it  and 


THE   ADJECTIVE  283 

the  noun  that  follows  mean  no  particular  thing  of 
the  class  that  the  noun  indicates.  Thus  in  the 
sentence  The  man  tied  his  horse  to  a  tree,  no  particular 
tree  is  meant;  hence  the  article  is  indefinite.  But 
in  The  man  tied  his  horse  to  the  tree,  some  particular 
tree  is  meant;  hence  the  article  is  definite. 

Relative,  Interrogative,  Demonstrative, 
AND  Indefinite  Adjectives 

268.  You  have  already  learned  that  certain  words 
are  sometimes  pronouns  and  sometimes  adjectives; 
if  they  stand  alone  they  are  pronouns,  and  if  they 
modify  nouns  they  are  adjectives.  For  example, 
there  are  relative  adjectives  as  well  as  relative 
pronouns.  Whose  is  such  a  word.  In  That  is  the 
man  whose  horse  I  bought,  "whose"  modifies  "horse" 
and  is  therefore  an  adjective;  it  relates  to  "man" 
and  is  therefore  relative.  Whose  is  also  an  inter- 
rogative adjective,  as  in  Whose  horse  is  this?  In 
This  is  Monday,  "this"  stands  alone  as  a  subject 
and  is  therefore  a  pronoun;  but  in  This  day  is 
Monday,  the  word  modifies  "day"  and  is  therefore 
an  adjective.  In  both  cases  it  is  demonstrative; 
that  is,  it  points  out.  In  Whatever  you  do,  do 
quickly,  "whatever"  stands  alone  as  object  of  the 
first  "do,"  and  is  therefore  a  pronoun;  but  in 
Whatever  thing  you  do,  do  quickly,  the  word  modifies 
"thing,"  and  is  therefore  an  adjective.  In  both 
cases  it  is  indefinite. 

Numerals 

269.  Words    expressing    number    are    sometimes 


284 


A    COMPOSITION-  GRA  MM  A  R 


nouns  and  sometimes  adjectives.  In  I  have  two 
apples,  ''two"  is  an  adjective,  since  it  modifies  a 
noun;  but  in  You  have  three,  "three"  is  a  noun, 
since  it  stands  alone  as  an  object.  One,  two, 
three,  and  so  on,  are  called  cardinals.  First,  second, 
third,  and  so  on,  are  called  ordinals. 

Comparison 

270.  Adjectives  have  what  is  called  comparison; 
For  example,  in  Monadnock  is  a  large  mountain, 
Pikes  Peak  is  a  larger  mountain,  and  Mount  Everest 
is  the  largest  oj  all  mountains,  "large,"  "larger," 
and  "largest"  express  three  different  degrees  of 
size.  The  first  is  called  positive  degree,  the  second 
is  called  comparative  degree,  and  the  third  is  called 
superlative  degree. 

Some  adjectives  form  their  degrees  by  prefixing 
more  and  most  to  the  positive  degree  rather  than  by- 
adding  er  and  est.  Others  are  very  irregular.  The 
following  tabulation  shows  the  comparison  of  several 
adjectives : 


POSITIVE 

COMPARATIVE 

SUPERLATIVE 

DEGREE 

DEGREE 

DEGREE 

red 

redder 

reddest 

fast 

faster 

fastest 

able 

V       abler 

ablest 

sensible 

more  sensible 

most  sensible 

reasonable 

more  reasonable 

most  reasonable 

good 

better 

best 

bad 

worse 

worst 

Many  adjectives  form  their  degrees  in  both  ways. 

Punctuation  of  Adjective  Clauses 
271.  If  you  were  looking  at  a  number  of  boys 


THE  ADJECTIVE  285 

playing,  and  should  say  to  some  one  near,  ''The  boy 
that  has  the  red  jacket  on  is  my  brother,''  you  would 
intend  the  clause  ''that  has  the  red  jacket  on"  to 
indicate  what  boy  you  meant.  In  pronouncing 
the  sentence,  you  would  not  make  a  pause  or  even 
the  slightest  jog  of  the  voice  between  "boy"  and 
*'that";  and  therefore,  if  you  should  write  the 
sentence,   you  should  not  use  a  comma  there. 

Suppose  again  that  the  boy  with  the  red  jacket 
were  coming  down  the  street  alone,  and  you  should 
say,  ''The  boy  who  has  the  red  jacket  on  is  my  brother.'' 
In  this  case  also  your  voice  would  run  on  without 
a  pause  between  "boy"  and  "who."  You  would 
feel  that  the  part  about  the  red  jacket  was  a  very 
necessary  piece  of  description.  This  is  why  you 
would  not  make  a  pause.  And  since  you  would 
not  make  a  pause  when  you  speak,  you  should  not 
use  a  comma  when  you  write. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  should  say,  ''My 
brother,  who  usually  wears  a  red  jacket,  is  a  very 
handsome  boy,''  the  clause  "who  usually  wears  a  red 
jacket"  would  be  an  additional  piece  of  information. 
Indeed,  you  might  leave  the  clause  out,  and  make 
the  sentence  read,  ' '  My  brother  is  a  very  handsome 
boy."  And  since  this  clause  contains  additional 
or  extra  information,  it  is  read  parenthetically; 
^  that  is,  you  make  a  pause  both  before  and  after  it. 
And  since  you  make  pauses  when  you  speak,  you 
should  use  commas  when  you  write. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  things  in  gram- 
mar, but  it  is  very  necessary  because  a  matter  of 


286  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

punctuation  depends  upon  it.  You  must,  therefore, 
do  your  best  to  learn  it  thoroughly  and  to  put  what 
you  learn  into  practice. 

A  Study  of  Adjectives 

272.  Study  the  following  sentences  carefully  and 
determine  what  words  are  adjectives,  that  is,  what 
words  modify  nouns.  Some  of  them,  you  will  ob- 
serve, are  predicate  adjectives.  Be  sure  to  note  the 
genitives  of  nouns  and  pronouns.  Determine  also 
what  phrases  and  clauses  modify  nouns  or  pronouns. 
Pay  careful  attention  to  the  punctuation  of  adjective 
clauses.  You  will  find  it  helpful  to  read  aloud 
sentences  containing  such  clauses — not  slowly  and 
with  emphasis,  but  rather  rapidly,  so  that  you  will 
notice  where  slight  jogs  of  the  voice  must  be  made. 
Consider  also  whether  such  clauses  could  be  left  out 
without  disturbing  the  sense. 

1 .  A  long,  heavy,  muddy  wagon  went  slowly  by,  carry- 
ing a  load  of  girders. 

2.  We  saw  the  man  whose  motor  car  ran  into  the 
heavy  wagon. 

3.  Whose  house  is  that  that  has  the  Dutch  roof? 

4.  My  grandfather's  house,  which  is  a  very  desirable 
home,  is  for  sale. 

5.  The  farmhouse  that  my  grandfather  owns  is  for  sale. 

6.  Over  there  across  the  river  is  my  grandfather's  farm- 
house, which  is  for  sale. 

7.  My  grandfather's  house  is  the  one  that  is  across 
the  river. 

8.  Our  orchard  has  not  so  many  trees  in  it  as  yours. 

9.  Your  blossoming  trees  are  more  beautiful  than  ours. 


THE  ADVERB  287 

10.  The  most  beautiful  tree  is  the  one  near  the  gate. 

1 1 .  Our  currant  bushes  are  loaded  with  most  luscious 
fruit. 

12.  .The  tree  whose  branches  are  dead  is  an  apple  tree. 

1 3 .  The  tree  that  has  the  fullest  blossoming  is  not  always 
the  most  fruitful. 

14.  A  good  farmer  usually  has  a  barn  that  is  bigger  than 
his  house. 

15.  The  worst  farmer  in  this  neighborhood  lives  in  a 
mansion. 

16.  There  are  three  melon  fields  along  the  road  here. 

17.  The  first  one  this  side  of  the  schoolhouse  is  my 
father's. 

18.  I  don't  know  whose  field  will  bear  the  best  fruit. 

19.  Whatever  fruit  we  raise  is  sent  to  the  city. 

20.  Many  carloads  go  every  summer. 

21.  Any  one  who  raises  good  fruit  makes  a  great  deal 
of  money. 

22.  "This  is  the  man  all  tattered  and  torn  that  kissed 
the  maiden  all  forlorn  that  milked  the  cow  with  the 
crumpled  horn  that  tossed  the  dog  that  worried  the 
cat  that  killed  the  rat  that  ate  the  malt  that  lay  in  the 
house  that  Jack  built." 

THE  ADVERB 

273.  In  the  sentence  When  I  was  going  up  the  hill, 
a  very  large  rabbit  leaped  out  of  a  bush,  there  are  four 
adverbial  constructions.  First,  ''very"  is  called 
an  adverb  because  it  modifies  "large,"  which  is  an 
adjective.  Second,  **out  of  a  bush"  is  an  adverbial 
phrase  because  it  modifies  "leaped,"  which  is  a 
verb.  Third,  "up  the  hill"  is  an  adverbial  phrase 
because  it  modifies  "was  going,"  which  is  a  verb. 

20 


288 


A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 


Fourth,  ''When  I  was  going  up  the  hill"  is  an 
adverbial  clause  because  it  modifies  "leaped," 
which  is  a  verb.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  any  word  or 
group  of  words  that  modifies  an  adjective  or  a  verb 
is  adverbial.  It  is  also  true  that  any  word  or  group 
of  words  that  modifies  an  adverb  is  adverbial.  Thus, 
in  George  goes  hunting  more  frequently  than  I,  "fre- 
quently" is  an  adverb,  since  it  modifies  the  verb 
"goes";  but  since  "more"  modifies  "frequently," 
"more"  is  also  an  adverb.  Adverbial  constructions 
are  therefore  those  that  modify  verbs,  adjectives, 
and  other  adverbs. 


Comparison 

274.  Like  adjectives,  adverbs  have  comparison. 
Illustrations:  positive  degree,  George  goes  hunting 
frequently.  Comparative  degree,  George  goes  hunting 
more  frequently  than  I.  Superlative  degree,  John 
goes   hunting    most  frequently   of  all. 

The  following  tabulation  will  show  the  different 
ways  in  which  adverbs  are  compared: 


POSITIVE 

COMPARATIVE 

SUPERLATIVE 

DEGREE 

DEGREE 

DEGREE 

fast 

faster 

fastest 

rapidly 

more  rapidly 

most  rapidly 

sadly 

more  sadly 

most  sadly 

slowly 

more  slowly 

most  slowly 

well 

better 

best 

badly 

worse 

Caution 

worst 

275,  You   have   probably   discovered   that   some 
words    are    sometimes    adjectives    and    sometimes 


THE  ADVERB  289 

adverbs.  Fast,  for  example,  appears  in  both  lists. 
This  is  the  case  with  many  words.  Everything 
depends  upon  what  the  word  does.  If  it  modifies 
a  noun,  it  is  an  adjective.  If  it  modifies  a  verb, 
an  adjective,  or  another  adverb,  it  is  an  adverb. 
Thus,  in  Bob  is  a  fast  runner  "fast"  is  an  adjective 
because  it  modifies  the  noun  ''runner";  but  in 
Boh  runs  fast,  ''fast"  is  an  adverb,  because  it  modifies 
the  verb  "runs." 

A  Study  of  Adverbs 
276.  Study  the  following  sentences  to  determine 
what   words,   phrases,    and    clauses    are   adverbial. 
Wherever  you  find  the  comparative  or  the  superla- 
tive degree,  mention  it.     Consider  the  punctuation. 

1.  At  this  place  the  mountain  was  very  steep. 

2.  We  did  not  think  the  mountain  would  be  so  steep 
at  this  place. 

3 .  When  we  were  halfway  up,  we  were  exceedingly  tired. 

4.  Our  guide,  who  was  an  old  man,  seemed  to  become 
fatigued  more  easily  than  the  others. 

5.  The  view  of  the  valley  from  the  halfway  house  was 
a  most  beautiful  sight. 

6.  As  we  were  pausing  for  a  rest  at  one  place,  we  saw 
a  mountain  goat  running  rapidly. 

7.  The  snow  began  to  fall  fast  a  little  after  we  had 
had  our  lunch. 

8.  After  a  time   the   snow  fell  so  furiously  that  we 
could  hardly  see  our  way. 

9.  We  concluded  to  lie  in  the  shelter  of  a  rock  in  order 
to  escape  the  storm. 

10.  About  two  o'clock  the  wind  and  the  snow  ceased, 
and  the  sun  came  out  brilliantly. 


290  A    COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 

11.  We  started  upward  again,  happily  and  noisily. 

12.  As  soon  as  the  wind  ceased  to  blow  and  the  snow 
to  fall,  we  started  upward  again. 

13.  We  climbed  rather  slowly  now,  so  that  we  might 
not  become  too  much  wearied. 

14.  There  were  far  too  many  rocks  in  our  path,  and 
there  was  too  much  stumbling. 

15.  Although  we  were  too  much  wearied  to  stand  when 
we  reached  the  top,  we  enjoyed  the  magnificent  view 
more  than  we  had  expected. 

Spelling 

277.  Has  your  study  of  prepositions  and  adverbs 
enabled  you  to  be  more  sure  of  the  spelling  of  to 
and  too?  Again,  what  part  of  speech  is  two,  and 
what  does  it  mean? 

THE  INTERJECTION 

278.  The  interjection  is  a  word  so  loosely  related 
to  the  rest  of  the  sentence  that  it  does  not  modify 
any  one  word,  but  rather  helps  the  whole  sentence 
to  express  some  emotion.  Thus,  in  the  sentence 
Oh,  what  a  rainy  day!  "Oh"  modifies  no  word,  but 
it  helps  the  other  words  to  express  surprise.  In 
Alas,  the  rain  is  so  heavy  that  I  cannot  go  out!  ''Alas" 
helps  the  other  words  to  express  regret.  Such 
words  as  oh,  alas,  pshaw,  Judge,  hurrah,  are  inter- 
jections. 

Punctuation  of  Interjections 

279.  The  exclamation  point  sometimes  follows 
the  interjection,  and  sometimes  is  used  at  the  end 
of  the  sentence,  as  in  the  example  sentences  in  the 


THE  INTERJECTION  291 

preceding  paragraph.  The  position  of  the  exclama- 
tion point  is  determined  by  the  way  the  sentence 
is  read:  if  the  voice  falls  after  the  interjection,  the 
exclamation  point  is  used  there;  if  there  is  a  pause 
but  no  fall  of  the  voice  after  the  interjection,  a 
comma  is  used  there  and  the  exclamation  point 
comes  at  the  end  of  the  sentence. 

Note.  The  word  O  is  not  properly  an  inter- 
jection, but  is  used  by  most  authors  just  before  a 
nominative  of  address  and  is  not  separated  from  it 
by  any  mark  of  punctuation.  Example,  "O  Liberty, 
what  crimes  are  committed  in  thy  name!'' 

280.  Each  of  the  following  sentences  contains 
an  interjection.  Read  each  of  them  aloud  and 
determine  why  it  is  punctuated  just  as  it  is. 

1.  Pshaw!     I  haven't  seen  him  for  a  week. 

2.  Hurrah!  we  are  going  to  have  a  holiday. 

3.  Oh,  how  awkward  you  are!  - 

4.  Alas,  we  shall  not  have  our  holiday  after  all! 

5.  We  shall  have  no  holiday,  alas! 

6.  Ah,  who  will  help  me! 

7.  Hush!     Some  one  is  coming. 

8.  Alack  and  alas,  no  one  will  come 


THE  INDEX 

{The  numbers  refer  to  sections) 


Accept,  meaning  of,  89. 

Accusative  case:  of  nouns, 
253;  of  pronouns,  258,259, 
260;  correct  use  of,  263. 

Accusative-dative,  257;  in 
declension,  258. 

Action  verbs,  68. 

Active  voice,  246,  247,  248. 

Additional  fact,  179. 

Adjective  phrases  and 
clauses,  212,  265;  punc- 
tuation of,  271. 

Adjectives,  265;  adjective 
phrase  and  clause,  265; 
common  and  proper  ad- 
jectives,266;  articles, 267; 
relative,  interrogative, 
demonstrative,  and  in- 
definite adjectives,  268; 
numerals,  269;  compari- 
son, 270;  predicate  ad- 
j  ecti  ves ,  272;  caution 
about,  275. 

Adverb,  273;  adverbial 
phrase  and  clause,  273; 
comparison  of,  274;  cau- 
tion about,  275. 

Adverbial  clauses,   276. 

Afect,  meaning  of,  89. 

Affirmative  sentences,  8. 

Aggravate,  meaning  of,  153. 

AinH,  63. 

All  right,  154. 

Almost,  meaning  of,  210. 


Among,  use  of,  iii. 
Analysis  of  sentences,  218, 

219,  220. 
And — who  and  and — which 

mistake,  168. 
Antecedent,  259. 
Anybody — he,  113. 
Apostrophe,  uses  of,  31. 
Appositives,  142. 
Articles,  267. 
At,  III. 
Awful  and  awfully,  153. 

Back  of.  III. 
Being  verbs,  68. 
Between,  use  of,  iii. 

Can,  correct  use  of,  44. 

Capital  letters,  206,  254. 

Cardinals,  269. 

Case:  of  nouns,  253;  of  pro- 
nouns, 257,  258. 

Clauses,  subordinate  and 
principal,  164,  195;  ad- 
jective, 212,  265. 

Committee,  63. 

Common  adjectives,  266. 

Common  case-form  of 
nouns,  253. 

Common  nouns,  254. 

Comparative  degree  of  ad- 
jectives, 270;  of  adverbs, 
274. 

Comparison,  270. 

Complete  predicate,  36. 


292 


THE  INDEX 


293 


Complete  subject,  36. 

Complex-compound  sen- 
tences, 197. 

Complex  sentences,  195. 

Compound  predicate  verbs, 
46. 

Compound  sentences,  197. 

Compound  subject  sub- 
stantives, 46. 

Conjugation  illustrated, 
243;  exercise  in  making, 
247. 

Conjunction,  234,  235,  236. 

Connectives,  46;  with  sub- 
stantive, 109;  mistakes 
in  the  use  of,  iii. 

Consonant,  doubling  the 
final,  58. 

Contractions,  31,  63. 

Coordinating  conjunctions, 
234,  235. 

Could,  use  of,  44. 

Crowd,  63. 

Dative  case:  of  nouns,  253; 

of  pronouns,  258,  259. 
Dative  of  indirect  object, 

102. 
Declarative  sentences,  8. 
Declension  of  personal  pro- 
noun,   258;    of    relative 

pronoun,  259. 
Definite  articles,  267. 
Demonstrative    adjectives, 

268. 
Demonstrative     pronoims, 

261;  adjectives,  268. 
Dependent  clauses,  164. 
Differ  with  and  differ  from, 

III. 


Different  from,  1 1 1 . 
Does  n't,  63. 
Don't,  63. 

Doubling  the  final  conso- 
nant, 58. 

Ed,  175. 

Effect,  meaning  of,  89. 

Ei,  words  having,  90. 

Elegant,  meaning  of,  210. 

En,  175. 

End  punctuation,  9. 

Equivalents    of    sentences, 

201. 
Except,  meaning  of,  89. 
Exclamatory  sentences,    8. 

Fast,  adjective  or  adverb, 

275- 
Function,  233. 
Future  perfect  tense,   240. 
Future  tense,  240,  244. 

Genitive:  of  nouns,  253;  of 
personal  pronouns,  257: 
in  declension,  258. 

Get,  172. 

Get  in,  172. 

Get  one's  hack  up,  172. 

Get  out,  172. 

Get  the  better  of,  172. 

Get  together,  172. 

Get  up,  172. 

Got,  172. 

Grammar,   why  necessary, 

35- 
Grand,  meaning  of,   210. 
Group  object,  75,  195. 

Hadn't  ought,  63. 

Half -quotation  marks,  107. 

Have,  172. 


294 


A  COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 


Her  and  me,  63,  iii. 
Him  and  I,  63,  iii. 
Him  and  me,  63,  iii. 

le,  words  having,  90. 

In  front  of,  1 1 1 . 

Indefinite  adjectives,  268. 

Indefinite  articles,   267. 

Indefinite  pronouns,  262. 

Indirect  object,  102. 

Ing,  175. 

Interjection,  278;  punctua- 
tion of,  279. 

Interrogative  adjectives, 
268. 

Interrogative  pronouns, 
260. 

Interrogative  sentences,  8. 

Intransitive  verbs,  69. 

It  is  he,  she,  etc.,  63. 

It  is  I,  etc.,  63. 

It  is  me,  63. 

Jury,  63. 

Kind  of  tired,  208. 

Lay,  77. 

Leave,  77. 

Let,  77. 

Lie,  77. 

Like,  use  of,  iii. 

Linking  verbs,  139,  249. 

Ly,  words  ending  in,  82. 

May,  correct  use  of,  44. 

Might,  correct  use  of,  44. 

Modifiers:  of  predicate 
verb,  38;  of  subject  sub- 
stantive, 38;  with  com- 
pound verbs  and  sub- 
jects, 47 ;  mistakes  in  the 


use  of,  49;  of  objects,  71; 
of  indirect  objects,  102; 
of  predicate  words,  135, 

138. 

Most,  for  almost,  210. 

Negative  sentences,  8. 

Ness,  words  ending  in,  82. 

No,  punctuation  of,  147. 

Nominative  case:  of  nouns, 
253;  of  personal  pro- 
nouns, 257 ;  in  declension, 
258;  correct  use  of  who, 
263. 

Nominative  of  address,  145. 

Non-exclamatory  sentence, 
8. 

Nouns:  as  subjects,  38; 
collective,  63;  as  ob- 
jects, 68;  as  substantives 
with  connective  word, 
109;  as  predicate  words, 
135,  138;  as  appositives, 
142;  as  nominatives  of 
address,  145;  general 
treatment  of,  251;  pred- 
icate nouns,  251. 

Nimiber :  apostrophes  in 
singular  and  plural  of 
nouns,  31;  agreement  of 
pronoun  with  antece- 
dent, 113;  of  verbs,  241; 
of  nouns,  252. 

Numerals,  269. 

Objects:  general  treatment 
of,  68;  modifiers  of,  71; 
compoimd,  73;  group,  75, 
195;  mistakes  in  the  use 

of,  III. 


THE  INDEX 


295 


Ordinals,  269. 
Ought  not,  63. 

Parts  of  speech,  233. 

Passive  voice,  246,  247,  248. 

Past  perfect  tense,  240. 

Past  tense,  240. 

Person:  of  verbs,  242;  illus- 
tration of  present  tense, 
243;  of  personal  pro- 
nouns, 256. 

Personal  pronouns,  256, 
257>  258. 

Phrases,  175;  adjective, 
212,  265. 

Positive  degree:  of  adjec- 
tives, 270;  of  adverbs, 
274. 

Possessive  pronouns  and 
adjectives,  257. 

Predicate    adjectives,    272. 

Predicate  nouns,  251. 

Predicate  words,   135,   138. 

Prepositional  phrase,  237. 

Prepositions,  237. 

Present  perfect  tense,  240. 

Present  tense,  243;  illus- 
tration of,  243. 

Principal  clause,  164,  195. 

Principal,  spelling  of,  133. 

Principle,  spelling  of,   133. 

Pronouns:  as  subjects,  38; 
as  correct  subjects  and 
predicates,  63;  as  ob- 
jects, 68;  as  substantives 
with  connective,  109; 
mistakes  in  the  use  of, 
1 1 1 ;  general  treatment 
of,  255;  correct  use  of, 
263;  relative,  259;  inter- 


rogative, 260;  demon- 
strative, 261;  indefinite, 
262. 

Proper  adjectives,  266. 

Proper  nouns,  254. 

Punctuation:  end  of  sen- 
tences, 9;  of  letters,  95; 
before  and,  105 ;  of  appos- 
itives,  143;  of  nomina- 
tives of  address,  145;  of 
yes  and  no,  147 ;  of  clauses 
and  phrases,  179;  related 
to  function  of  connec- 
tives, 181;  general  treat- 
ment of,  199;  of  adjective 
clauses,  271;  of  interjec- 
tions, 279. 

Quotation  marks,  9;  at 
beginning  and  end  of 
paragraphs,  13;  half- 
quotation  marks,  107. 

Relative  adjectives,  268. 
Relative  pronouns,   259. 

S  added  to  words  ending  in 
y,  82. 

Sentence :  why  it  should  be 
studied,  7;  completeness 
of,  7;  kinds  of  thought 
expressed  in,  8;  nature 
of,  10;  simple,  193;  com- 
plex, 195;  compound  and 
complex-compound,  197; 
equivalents  of,  201;  anal- 
ysis of,  218. 

Set,  77. 

Shall,  244. 

Should  not,  63. 


296 


A   COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 


Simple  sentences,  193. 

Sit,  77- 

So,  168.  ^ 

Sort  of  tired,  208. 

Spelling:  doubling  the  final 
consonant,  58;  words 
ending  in  y,  82;  words 
ending  in  ness,  82 ;  words 
ending  in  ly,  82;  words 
having  ei  and  ie,  90; 
principal   and    principle, 

133- 

Splendid,  use  of,  210. 

Subject:  complete,  36;  sub- 
stantive, 38;  compound, 
46 ;  correct  predicates  and 
subjects,  63. 

Subordinate  clauses,  164, 
195;  mistakes  in  the  use 
of,  168. 

Subordinating  conjunc- 
tions, 234,  236. 

Subordination  of  ideas,  168. 

Substantive    clauses,     233, 

Substantives:  with  connec- 
tive word,  109;  mistakes 
in  the  use  of,  iii;  with 
preposition,  237;  words 
not  names,  251. 

Superlative  degree:  of  ad- 
jectives, 270;  of  adverbs, 
274. 


Tense,  77,  240;  unreason- 
able change  of,  245. 

That  kind,  49. 

Their,  40. 

Them,  never  a  modifier,  49. 

There,  40,  170. 

These,  49. 

This  kind,  49. 

Those,  49. 

To,  use  of,  iii;  spelling  of, 
277. 

Too,  use  of,  iii;  spelling  of, 
277. 

Transitive  verbs,  69. 

Two,  use  of.  III. 

Verb:  contraction  of,  with 
negative,  3 1 ;  mistakes  in 
use  of  may  and  can,  44, 
45 ;  correct  predicates  and 
subjects,  63 ;  expressi^ng 
action  and  being,  68; 
.  transitive  ,  and  intran- 
sitive, 69;  general  treat- 
ment of,  239,  et  seq. 

Verb  phrase,  38,' 239. 

Voice,  246,  247,  248. 

Will,  244. 

Y,  words  ending  in,  82. 
Yes  and  no,  punctuation  of, 

147- 
You  were,  63. 


■^K 


VB  36459 


M69906 


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DEPT. 


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